Little Miss Cinderella
by candycanepower
Summary: Tear is a sister to the wealthy man known as Van, a Principal at the extravagant Auldrant-Fonon High School. Soon, she will be forced to meet jerks, stereotypes, intense drama, but out of, friends. LukeTear. T for Language. Ch. 7 UP! Trying to improve
1. Cinderella?

**CCP: **OKAY. Here's another story due to my failure! BYE BYE

**Disclaimer: **Man I wish I owned them.

**Chapter 1-Cinderella?**

"Impossible! I will not transfer to your school!" The blue-eyed brunette argued angrily. Her older brother heaved a disappointed sigh, it was a typical response from his younger sister, Tear.

"I am the principal of that school, even Ms. Legretta recommends this school." he replied dryly. "We both think it's the best."

Tear had a disgusted look on her lightly-toned face. "I heard there are jerks in there." Frankly, that was the only reason that kept her away from Auldrant-Fonon High School. Satisfied, Van faced the door of her apartment.

"Whatever works for you, Mystearica." Without another word, he bid farewell with a slam of the door. Blood was boiling in the woman's body, Van was giving her an every day visit just to persuade her to that God-forsaken school he directs. Each day, the whole argument would end with the heavy slam of the door, leaving Tear speechless for anymore shouting. She never understood why Van kept on insisting her for such a ridiculous reason. The young woman wouldn't be surprised if Van made a visit the next day. To shrug the thought away, she turned around to straighten a stack of papers that will be due the next day. Tear held the papers upward and literally stabbed the table to straighten it perfectly.

She sighed. "Knowing that this is Van, he will never stop." she mused. Her left bang drooped and completely hidden the stressed blue eye underneath. Tired of stacking the essays, she plopped it on the table, causing it to look like what it did in the beginning. '_Auldrant-Fonon has dorms... should be a lot better than this place...' _She wrinkled her nose at the apartment walls, the greenish goo was indicating that the paint was eating itself off. Tear sat down on a chair, it had been about 2 years now----no three, since she had left her mansion. She was tired living under rule of her big brother, tired of having maids serving her things in a silver platter, tired of being enclosed. After renting her own apartment, Van would visit her to persuade her, or rather, urge her to go to the school he rules over. He would conspicuously arrive, almost every weekend up until now.

But Tear's pride was too damn good, she didn't want to let down yet.

She took a wary glance at the digital clock that had neon red numbers that said '9:30 P.M'. After figuring out the time, she felt exhaustion and fatigue rushing through her blood, she immediately jumped on her bed, forcing her eyes shut. Frustration was battling her mind, her defences were weak, it took over quickly. To put it in a simple matter, she couldn't sleep. The brunette sat up and stared at the small table next to her bedstead. It was a tiny slip with a color that made Tear instantly loath it; it was the bill for her apartment. A total of 5,000 gald for one month, it was getting even pricier each month and worse of all, she could not pay it this month. 'My boss is a fricken bastard who needs to get laid!', she would shriek between her gritted teeth as she storms home from work. Tear works as a waitress at a beaten up restaurant that mainly serves some weird sort of _glowing moss _smudged on a piece of rappig meat Surprisingly, some people think it as a good dish, but to Tear, it made her lose her appetite.

Tear grimaced at the mortgage slip, wishing that she could tear it apart and shove it down her boss's throat for giving her such a low pay. A voice chirped through her ears, a perfect harmony of words combined together. Tear darted her eyes around the room, shocked by the abrupt noise. '_Maybe it's the damn neighbors...' _She paused, it couldn't be them. The sound she heard was tranquil and her neighbors only play metal rock. At certain nights when they have a party, it would boom throughout the whole building, leaving Tear's eyes ripped open with a small fear that the ceiling will fall and crush her.

_"Teaar._" the small voice uttered.

It was a ghost, she was sure of that. In a quick movement, she reached out for her Hello Kitty plushie and held it tight against her chest. "W-Who's there?" she croaked with false courage.

"_Your conscience..._"

'_Conscience?'_

A small floating animal appeared. it was small and it's feathers were teal blue. It had two big orbs of eyes that seemed to melt her heart. "Just kidding! My name is Mieu!" it chirped cheerfully.

Tear blinked several times, then realized the situation. She stood straight up, "You're a cheagle?" Mieu nodded enthusiastically,"Yep! Our kind only appear to certain people! Of course, no one can see me except for you Tear!"

Silenced, she sat back down---It was like a story of Cinderella, except with a huge twist. She smiled warmly, but when she spoke, it was a bit cold. "Why are you here?"

"Your bills! I'll help pay your bills and meet the man of your life! Tear isn't that what you wish for?"

Tear automatically nodded without thinking. For years, she had wished for a man to take her away from her prison, it never came true, at least, not yet.

"Then go to the School! Accept it from Van! You can do it Tear!" Mieu sang joyfully.

Mieu was utterly cute, in her opinion. "Alright. I will." she replied.

"Go to _sleeep_." Mieu cooed softly.

Her eyes felt heavy, she fell off her bottom and fell on the bed, snuggling her plushie. "Will I see you again later on?"

"YEP!"

That voice could break glass.

**CCP: This will go on. Not only one chapter but more! I'm lacking inspiration, to tell you the truth. I've only typed this because I was reading High School Fictions .. Thanks for reading!**


	2. Where am I going?

**CCP: **I'm surprised people actually like it Oo Yay!

Remday, **Lunaday,** Ifritday, Undineday, Sylphday, **Loreleiday,** Gnomeday

[Sunday, **Monday**, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday]

Edit: so it can be easier. :D

**Chapter 2-Where am I going?**

Tear awoke, her sapphire eyes fluttering as the light shone to her eyes. She yelped and rolled off her bed, her blanket wrapped around her like a hot tortilla. _Lunaday_(Monday), the day she hates absolutely the most out of all of the week. Frustrated at the position she was in, she uncurled herself by rolling on the floor until she hit something. It was the table with her stack of essays. To her _sheer _happiness, the stack scattered. In her eyes, the papers flew, gently floating it's way down to damnation (or to hers). But in reality, it toppled and splattered on the floor like a child barfing out his cream stew. Tear groaned, it was a completely stupid idea. She practically sleeps in her living room, the kitchen was half as small and the bathroom was even smaller! The place was a mess (with some additional papers on the floor), a dump--a terrific home for animals! The brunette cursed her apartment, the pay; the condition of it was related to a piece of shit. Like she couldn't have enough of those from the stupid cats, but no matter what, she can't make them go away (She had to restrain herself from hugging them when they come by.)

There was a knock on the door, the brunette scampered up to her toes and hastily picked up as much papers as she could from the floor.

"I'm coming in, Tear!" The familiar gruff voice hollered from behind the door. She predicted it that he would come --- no, he _had _to come. '_Could it be?_' Tear thought silently. '_… That the cheagle brought him here today?_' She groaned as the word 'Destiny' popped up in her brain. It was because of Mieu that brought Van on a school day. Was she supposed to start right away? Tear glanced at the papers bombed on the floor, and then shifted her eyes to the wall that was, quote '_eating itself._'

"Tear! Open the door now! Don't make me bust the door down like last time!"

Uttering a breath, she opened the knob softly, turning it so slowly that you could hear the small squeak of the cheap rusty bolts. The knob slid out of her hands as the door was thrown back, revealing her older brother holding the other handle.

"Tear." He began his eyes tense on hoping that she would accept. "I know that I've told so many times but…"

"I'm going." Tear cut in.

His blue eyes widened and his jaw was half open. Hands gripping tightly around the Starbucks cup's waist, he smiled. A smile that could reflect the suns rays with it's whiteness and destroy the sun itself. "You mean it?"

Tear nodded. "Anywhere but here, I've reasoned myself to go back home. How long has it been… a couple years?" she smiled weakly; a smile not as strong as Van's.

Van nodded and grinned triumphantly. "That's right, Mystearica! Everyday I worry and ask myself, how can Mystearica actually live in a place like that? I am delighted--- no, proud that you've decided to come back! It was a wise choice!" he patted her back. Tear wasn't enjoying herself, she was thinking of turning back, this was the side of Van she never---hence the word _ever_, want to see again. Grinning madly like a puppy, she was somewhat disgusted at the behavior. It was a totally different change from the quarreling they went through yesterday.

"Yeah." She replied nonchalantly, shifting her eyes from place to place. "Anyway, when do I start?"

"Today!" he shouted with glee.

"T-Today?!" yelped the brunette. "How about the… " She turned and stared at the mess on the floor. "…Homework?" she continued.

"It doesn't matter! You're going to Auldrant-Fonon High! One of the best ranked of all in Auldrant! It costs a ton to enroll, but you're in free! How fortunate are you, Mystearica!"

He was definitely giddy, way too giddy for comfort.

"I've already gotten you classes and everything over there!"

She raised a brow, he was already ready with everything. Her records are now in Auldrant-Fonon High, grades, information and everything, now the actual body will be in the school.

"Okay, I'll get dressed." She muttered, pushing her brother out of the room.

"All right! Get in my car outside once you are ready."

Tear sighed and packed all the things she could and stuffed it in her traveling bag and a roller Van had put in there beforehand. She paused when she held her Hello Kitty plushie, the last thing that was not already packed. With it grasped tightly in her hands, she took a moment to stare at the half empty room. The bed never had a spread sheet, the pillow and blanket was already provided. She glanced through the kitchen door, she didn't need to pack pans. The person who would rent this forsaken room would be happy with at least _one _thing. She huffed as she hoisted the bag over her shoulder, the roller with her clothes on the opposite arm behind her. There was on mirror that hung quietly on her right. She stared at it for a moment and fixed up her bangs. Her choice for the first day seemed pretty decent, some worn out jeans, a plain white shirt that hugged her curves and an unzipped brown jacket to top it all off. She slid on her Vans shoes and walked up to the door, twisting the knob with her free hand.

'Goodbye hell, I won't see you again.' She smiled with triumph, stepping out.

Forgetting her old school won't be a problem, she never talked to anyone and no one ever talked to her. It will be done easily.

After a few minutes of walking and waiting in the elevator shaft, she found her brother talking to the manager.

"Yes she will be leaving…" she heard Van say to the portly looking man with an untended mustache.

"A'iight, whatever." The man burped, taking a bite into a piece of chicken he is holding. "Just gimme the pay."

"Alright…" She figured that Van was stunned by the rudeness of the manager. The manager suits it well for the piece of dump. After paying the check, the manager left with a grin, walking at a steady pace back with his little legs.

Van turned to Tear and nodded, his finger pointing at the nicest looking car in the lot. "All right, there's the car. Here, I'll take the bags for you." He took her heavy bag and tossed it behind his shoulder, his hand wrapped around the handle. Then he lifted the roller up with his free arm and began walking towards his car. Tear wasn't too impressed; Van was pretty darn built, even when he was a small toddler.

She snapped out of her thoughts and hurried into the car. Just as she shut the passenger door, the engine ignited--- not in an explosion sort of way like the cheap cars, but a sound that would not even frighten a baby. Van wheeled back and turned out of the parking lot silently. Tear could tell that there was still a smile plastered on the man's face. She could also tell by the low humming coming from him.

The brunette leaned on the side, staring at the road through the stainless car window. It looked like little black mites moving and squirming as the car drove, dowsing her so much that her lids felt heavy. It is going to be quite a trip. Yes, almost certain that where she is heading next could be her downfall.

**CCP: YES IT IS SHORT. This is quite a boring chapter, but I promise the next one will be better when she actually gets into school! Frankly, I'm not sure how it will go. BUT I'll just brainstorm and see how far it goes, yes? And I'm pretty sleepy too Happy Friday.**


	3. He lied

**CCB: **YEAH I'M BACK! I think this story has a lot of errors... but oh well. I'm sorry but I was in a hiatus for a while cause I was lazy... and stuff. Honestly, I am the worse of worse on things like this. Seriously, I can't do anything without inspiration! LOL. Well enjoy guys!

**DISCLAIMER: **OKAY I DON'T OWN ToA. But I do own how this was made... and the idea. Half of it... I partially borrowed it from Harry Potter.

Remday, **Lunaday,** Ifritday, Undineday, Sylphday,Loreleiday, Gnomeday

[Sunday, **Monday**, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday]

**Chapter 3-He lied.**

Tear stirred up quietly in the car, completely dazed at where she was. It astounded her that she was sleeping for this long. Stiffly, she sat against the seat and stretched her arms forward until she heard a small crack from her back. Embarrassed, she quieted down and relaxed. Upon that sound, at the mirror, she saw that Van's sky blue eyes averted to her attention.

"You're awake now? You were asleep for so long." He said with his usual high-spirits towards her. Tear smiled in response and nodded feebly as her mind tried to latch together what was happening.

"Brother, are we here yet?" she asked, her voice oddly weak and soft due to sleep.

With the sudden halt, her azure blue eyes widened, then quickly darted a gaze out the window. To her awe, she saw the building of the school. It wasn't any regular building, like back at the streets; it was like a giant hotel of some sort. She soon came to realize that, that was nothing other but her school. The girl feebly unbuckled her seat belt and stepped out of the car, feeling puny in this spacious and gigantic area. The building was so large that it even covered the sun itself! The man, known as her brother, laughed heartily in response to Tear's air-headed action. The brunette blushed immediately, pursed her lips, and then closed the door with a slam. She took a few steps forward, and then stopped. To be honest, she didn't know where she was supposed to go.

"Ah, wait Van, I can carry my things." Tear remarked as she hastily ran over to the trunk to get her own things. She came to realize that it was a little too heavy for such thin, lanky arms and bony hands, but she trained herself in solitude and independence for so long, that she dared not to complain. Unfortunately, Van saw this and took half of the load away from her. She stared at him, then back at the building in remorse. This looks way too intimidating for comfort. Even that smile on Van's lips can't comfort her now. She furrowed her brows and brought up as much confidence as she could, then marched towards the building with her brother trailing behind her.

There was so much on her mind: how is she going to fit in? Is she going to be known as 'the principal's sister' or something? Then the whole school will know her! Tear mentally groaned; she prayed for the littlest attention on her first day. If not, Lorelei can declare her doomed. Cursing the inevitable, she heavily climbed up the steps until she reached to flat, concrete ground, then prodded forward with her bag in-hand. Her bright blue eyes carelessly looked from a direction to another when students and teachers passed by her. She shuddered as one gazed at her for the longest time before moving on. Van's musical laughter could be heard as his voice began talking away to another lady. Tear sheepishly lowered her head so her chin could rest on her soft bag that acted as her teddy. She stopped when she heard that Van's footsteps ceased and turned around to see what he was doing. Van immediately parted with the lady and hastily stepped ahead to follow up. Her brother walked by her and stepped on the dark mat, then went through the automatic doors that sprung to the side at his presence. As always, she dashed in to follow her brother like a blind sheep. This place... was so strange already.

Inside, the air was fresh as if she was by the seashore with its soothing pristine appearance. The lobby was like... a hotel's lobby. It was so large, so grand with its walls painted ivory white and the lights that clung against the ceiling. Hanging on the walls were pictures of graduates and various pieces of artwork by students' themselves. To the side of the wall, there was a large desk that outstretched all the way to a door. Another wall right across from the entrance was a huge window that took place of the whole entire wall. Many greens, leaves, and flowers protruded outside to view, creating a breathless prospect. Finally, on the wall across the desk was like a relax area where there are many sofas and chairs. Even the floor was shiny! It looked like it was waxed ten times, or something. It even smelled nice... Oddly, like coconut; that was pretty predictable since Van likes the smell of coconut.

While she was spacing out, Van had already talked to the secretaries and prepared everything for her.

"Tear?" he asked with a sudden hand on her shoulder.

She nearly jumped out of her skin, and that mental action was rare. "Hm? Are you done?" she asked, her voice sounding unbelievably calm and unruffled. How she manage to pull that off; Yulia knows.

"Yes. Actually... I have some important things to do... so I assigned someone to lead you to your room... Ah? She's here..." A noise alerted her, it was like someone was wearing heels from a distance.

_Clamp clamp clamp..._

Van smiled as a girl walked towards them with the utmost elegance and poise. She had a curved and a thin heart-shaped face with healthy toned skin, long auburn hair tied neatly into two low pigtails, breathless gem-like violet eyes, and rosy pink lips pursed into a brilliant smile. She was already in uniform that had a few shades of blue with a skirt that showed quite an amount of her legs and the ribbon under her collar that symbolized her year and House was tied into a perfect bow. Tear gulped at this perfection, for this girl must be categorized 'popular' in this school.

"This is Melissa, and she's a Senior. She's also the Secretary for our Student Council here." Van gently placed Tear's bags near her. "I'm very sorry to be bothering you like this."

"Oh no, it's alright, Principal Fende. I'd gladly be a help." she spoke with charm in her voice.

Without another word, Van walked off to leave the girls there alone. Melissa hastily picked up the bags on the floor before Tear had time to do so. With her hands full, Melissa smiled and peered over the bags to look at a piece of paper and a card. "Ah, so you're Tear Grants, our principal's sister? You know the school is looking forward your stay."

The brunette groaned, accidentally out loud this time. The girl chuckled gently. She wanted to hide her face behind this bag in front of this figure of perfection.

"Don't worry! It's a good thing, really, it is!" She assured as she walked forward. "Let's see... you're a Junior. Hm! Well, my third year was quite fun, actually. I'm sure yours will be too." She grinned as they both walked towards an elevator (Tear didn't even notice it!) and inside it.

"Do I have to wear those uniforms?" Tear finally spoke softly, but honestly. She didn't want to wear something like that, for she was shy of exposing her skin.

Melissa chuckled. "Yeah... Well, no you're Daathic. Each uniform was different according to what House you're in." She explained with a small smile. "I'm Malkuth, and our leader, Peony, designed this... Though I can't consider you too lucky since your leader is ..." She literally rolled her eyes. "That man... ugh. But the uniforms are decent, actually. Peony is a little pervert at times... Oh, and Ingobert is as boring as ever. Hmm, alright, you're room is in level 234 in Daath's building. Make sure you know what House you're in and that you use the correct elevator to your room or you'll get lost."

Tear's eyes widened at the numbers and the complexity. "Wow..." she murmured to herself with awe. She never knew that Van had this much money... The years that had passed really eluded her knowledge of him.

Both girls stepped out and the sound of Melissa's heels against the floor ceased when she walked on the soft green carpets. The halls were blank and painted faded green with nothing on the walls except the crest of Daath. Tear stared around, her eyes like saucers as she squeezed tightly against her bag.

A voice caught her attention. "Tear? Are you coming?" she called.

The brunette quickly darted over and murmured a soft, "Sorry." before following her. It crept on her when she followed mutely in the silent halls. Everything was structured so neatly and so perfectly. Each door that was across from another was perfect, like symmetry. The sound of knocking filled her ears as she turned to see Melissa knocking softly on door 234.

"Anise, are you in there? Hey, your roommate is in."

The person that answered the door was a short girl in some sort of pajamas with two giant opal-brown eyes, blackish hair tied into two high pigtails with yellow laces, and tanned skin. One hand was on the handle while the other was clutching into some sort of stitched up doll. Tear stared at it blankly as it smiled at her, menacingly. The buttoned-on eyes were seriously scaring her.

"OH!" The girl beamed brightly at Tear. "So _you're _Van's sister hm?"

"Mr. Fende." Melissa corrected the girl bluntly.

Anise rolled her eyes, "Blegh. Whatever Melissa. You're such a goodie-goodie."

Finally, a negative expression strained upon Melissa's refined face, changing it to a peeved one. "I am not!" She folded her arms with a frown.

The short girl stared at Tear, and then groaned. "Auw!! Are you sure you're a Junior? Geez, you've got melons of Melissa's! You can easily be mistaken as a Senior!"

Immediately, Tear flushed uncontrollably. There are actually people like her in this world...?! She was actually shocked at this girl's straight-forwardness as those brown eyes stared at her with malice. Never before had a girl told her that before. _'Oh Yulia... '_ She thought as she too was stunned to actually say that aloud. Not like she would, though.

_"An-ise!"_ Melissa scorned sharply. "Come on now, behave. She's new and don't go scaring her! Just go introduce her and talk to her about the school."

"I'll do that once Natalia acknowledges me well as the Treasure! She keeps on buying stuff! Why don't you go and scold _her _or something?" the girl retorted gruffly. Melissa didn't say anything, sighed, then placed Tear's bags on the ground before walking off."

Tear's eyes became unnerving. She was actually comfortable around Melissa, but now she was left alone with a girl that commented about her breasts. Not good.

"Gee, you gunna stand there all day?" Anise asked shrilly as she pulled the roller and the bangs into the room, where she disappeared around a corner.

The brunette immediately followed and allowed the door to automatically shut on its own. Inside, it was almost as big as her apartment! There was two compartments, one bed in the bottom sticking out, above it was a slack of floor that had a bed facing against the wall. To the right was a small ladder to climb up, and almost that wall was a whole bunch of cabinets, an old wardrobe and a stickie notes with drawings on them. There were only a few on the bottom area, but on the second 'floor', it was decorated with tons of pictures and dolls that sat against the windowsill, a colored wardrobe, and a messy bed. It became obvious that the top one was Anise's, and the bottom one was Tear's. On the left wall, there was a small hallway that was as deep in as four feet with two doors on one side. She reckoned that those two were separate bathrooms.

While she was staring away, Anise was already on the second level, on her bed. "Hey, Tear, right?"

Tear snapped out of her trance. "Uh... Yeah?"

The Sophomore leaned on her stomach with her arms supporting her chin up while her legs playfully swung in the air. "Hmm... What do you know about the school?"

The brunette sat silently on her bed and thought for a while. "Aren't we starting school today?"

Anise didn't speak for a while, so she had to stand up and look at the girl's expression. "No! What are you talking about?" Anise began with a raise of a brow. She then went back into her sitting position on the bed, legs crossed. "School doesn't start 'till tomorrow."

Tear twitched on the inside with an impulse to destroy Van. "It's not?" she asked calmly.

"_Noo! _If it started today, it wouldn't be this empty and I wouldn't be in this!" Anise stood up and pointed at her pajamas. "Everyone is out today, either out to enjoy their last day, study their asses off, prepare some stuff for school, or sleep." Anise chuckled at Tear's expression. "You didn't know? Oh well. The bell rings at 'xactly 8:30 a.m. The alert bell rings five minutes before the actual bell rings... but that's only in the morning and at lunch. There is a break between second and third period for twenty minutes, and we have ten minutes to get to our classes since... this school is big, you know. Oh and Lunch is an hour and a half, and each class is an hour. So we get out at 4:20 p.m." She explained perfectly before falling back on the bed.

"I hate school." The girl groaned out loud, randomly.

Tear silenced herself to soak in the information. "I... see..." She uttered slowly in reply.

It seems like this girl was hungry for a conversation because she kept on popping up questions. "Oh, you know Melissa right?" She didn't even give time for Tear to respond. "Yeah, she's in the Student Council. I'm in it too!"

"I kno-"

"And we have other members too. Like Natalia is our President, and she's also Ingobert's daughter... so she's like, automatically popular in Kimlasca, the House. Uh... Luke is the Vice President, Cemore's the Foreign Exchange leader, Kristy's the Event Planner, Guy's the Advisor, Melissa's the Secretary... and yup, I'm the Treasure! You know you should join too, it's a lot of fun! I dunno if Natalia can make up another space... but... Uh..."

"I don't think I would..." Tear replied with unease. She was too afraid to join any clubs now... for she knew no one.

"It's really cool! Seriously. You shouldn't be the one scared. I joined last year and I was only a Freshie. Everyone's really nice...! Well... actually..." Anise stared down, hard at the floor. "Natalia is a pain in the butt sometimes when she commands people. Seriously, she thinks she's like, a princess or something. Luke is arrogant and snobby, just like Natalia and they're cousins! Guy is scared of girls... it's fun. Oh, and Cemore's a player. Be careful."

So much information at once, it was like the world was spinning. The room was getting colder each second, so she closed up her brown jacket. This place was so foreign and so new... she felt so left out. She couldn't bear to think that tomorrow would be the first day. Tear would've very much rather have the first day start today so she could get it over with.

"Oh yeah!" That girl's voice was like an explosion in a silent forest; it was so random and loud! "Make sure you stay away from Luke Fon Fabre and his gang. Sure, he's in Student Council, but he's only in there by popularity. He's an idiot that'll annoy you to death if you're really smart... And you do look pretty smart. It's hard to not see him. He has long red hair with the edges tinged orange or something. Oh, and uh... You gotta get your books! Hey, um, where's your ID card?"

The girl sat there, blinked, and then shot a glance at her bag. It wasn't lying there where she could see it; conclusion, she had no freaking clue where or what it even looks like. Feeling vulnerable and stupid, she muttered softly, "I don't know..."

It seemed like that... irritated Anise. She didn't know for sure, but her words caused the Sophomore to climb down the ladder.

"Man, Melissa isn't as organized as we thought! She didn't even give you it..." Without even asking Tear for permission, she went ahead and rummaged through Tear's belongings until she pulled out a plastic card, like magic! "Here you are!" she proclaimed triumphantly before handing it over to her. Her two azure eyes laid on the plastic card, that had her whole first name, and her adopted grandfather's last name; Grants. There was a empty outline of a square next to her name. Right in the middle, it said: NO PIC.

So she was going to get her picture taken? Tear hated pictures with her face in it. Honestly, she's not a picture person and is way too shy to have her face revealed like that. As for her student ID, she had to take a close look at it to properly memorize it.

_'One zero eight...'_ Ten numbers to remember was too much to ask for! Finally, she had given up after trying to recite the numbers in her head.

"Um... Where do I get my books?" Tear asked Anise softly.

Anise popped out from her little thought bubble, and then grinned widely. "I'll take you! It's at the book store. Oh wait, lemme get dressed."

Tear heed no attention to Anise, and only stared placidly at her ID card. _'One zero eight... five?'_

A few minutes later, Anise literally jumped down from the second floor with her doll in her hand. "Let's go! Oh and the map, yeah here's a picture of the map." She pointed a finger at a small sheet of paper that was nailed against the wall. Tear curiously walked towards the map and gazed at it to soak in the information again.

"This school as a bunch of buildings. Okay, the lobby is where you enter. In front of the lobby is the staff parking. The east parking lot is the Senior lot and the west is the Juniors, meaning all the years below Senior. To the right of the Lobby, that tower is us, Daath. To the left of the Lobby is Kimlasca. Down the halls from Kimlasca, straight down, that tower is Malkuth, then the halls go straight, then down to connect with Daath's tower. As you can see, our school is like a great wall... a big square and enclosed wall. The halls with classes have three levels so you have to use the stairs of the elevator. Plus, I don't know _why_ but the halls also have a freakin name! Okay, from tower Kimlasca to Tower Malkuth, that hall's name is Abberia. From Malkuth to a corner is Radessia, and from that corner all the way to Daath is Padamiya, and yeah, there is the Lobby in between Daath and Kimlasca. We usually just initial it like HA, HR, or HP."

The girl inhaled, then began on, "The office is in the second floor of the Lobby where you can go complain to your counselors or talk to your brother. Across the Lobby, through the gigantic Quad is the lunch room, which is on the first floor. It's really crowded in there, I suggest finding a tree or something to eat... Or you can eat with me!"

Tear winced, she felt like her mind was going to burst. "Uh... the book store?" she managed to say.

_"OH YEAH."_

Her voice... was like shattering glass. Anise was quite a unique person.

"The bookstore is also in the second level above the Lobby. Come on, I'll take you." Anise tugged on Tear's sleeve, then dashed ahead out of the room. She was compelled to leave the lonely room to follow the energetic girl. This was all so menacing... Anise is only a Sophomore, but she memorized everything completely! The brunette followed Anise like an idiot with her ID card in both hands. Some people walked by with their group of friends and either giggled or talked. Her self-esteem shrunk by ten-fold. It was strange how Anise was skipping merrily while Tear was shrugging away sheepishly behind the girl; it was almost comical.

Finally, both of them went in to an empty elevator where Anise pressed on the number 002. The elevator dropped them slowly and safely. During the minute, or so, Anise was blabbing about her hardships as a Freshman and a newbie. All Tear did was smile and nod idiotically. The shaft slid open before it even reached to 2 and it revealed a short pink-haired girl holding a doll that was just as strange as Anise's.

"Gloomietta! What the heck are you doing here?" Anise shouted loudly as her finger went to the 'close' button.

"No! Anise don't!" The girl's shrill voice shouted as her foot interrupted the closing.

"What do you want?!" Anise retorted, annoyed.

The girl looked like she was about to cry. She held her doll up against her face and all Tear saw was her two large rabbit-eyes. "Ion's missing!"

Anise widened her eyes, then exhaled before screaming, _"WHAT?!"_

"It's _your _fault!"

Anise looked like she was going to explode, and Tear stayed as far away as she could from the girl. After a second, the girl sighed, and then stared at Tear in a defeated manner. "I'm so sorry Tear, but I have to go look for someone. Just go in the office and ask for your books. Sorry again, bye!" She was gone before Tear could even blink. Now she was alone in this elevator with her ID card that refused to let her remember its contents.

After a long while, the shafts open and she stepped out unnervingly. She turned her head back to look at the elevator, but her only escape route already closed itself; damn. Timidly, she gazed around the room where it was full of busy people working behind desks. A man talking on a cell phone walked by, and all she was able to say was, "Excuse me?" before he ignored her and walked away. That definitely put her down, now she lost her confidence to talk to strangers now! She did that several other times, but they were all so damn busy to even notice her! She swore to herself that the next person she targets, she'll force an answer.

An uncaring red haired boy walked by her with his hands in his pockets.

"Hey...!" She tapped on the boy's shoulder. He spun around, his skeptical face looked greatly bothered by her presence. Immediately, her insides shrunk.

"What?" The boy asked loudly. Still, Tear didn't reply.

"I don't have all day. You look like a newbie. Haven't seen your face around. What's your name?"

"Tear." She replied bluntly. "Mystearica Grants."

He snapped his fingers, his emerald green eyes sparkling. "Oh! You're his sister?! Hey, my name's Luke."

Tear didn't reply as she thought about this.

_"... stay away from Luke fon Fabre!" _Anise's voice rambled in her head.

"...Fon Fabre?" She continued slowly. Apparently, Luke was pleased that she knew his full name.

"Yeah! Hey um... what do you need?"

This feeling... it was so strange. Anise spoke of his name as if he was bad, but he didn't seem so bad in her eyes. He was sort of... cute? Her lips pursed coldly in thought. Never in her life had she ever had a crush on a boy, and this definitely will not be her first if he's _that _well-known.

"Nothing." She replied, as if she despised him for a reason unknown. The brunette moved away from the boy and walked in a random direction. He didn't follow her, or call her. It was queer because she never acted this way before. He was being nice to her, but she just turned him down! Still, it was as if a sign was moving her away from Luke, as if her instincts were sensing danger.

Danger?

**CCP: **ALRIGHTY THATS THE END FOR THIS CHAPTER! Took me forever because I was tired. Lol. Note that I put some of my OCs in here, and I hope none of you mind. I also think I'm putting in someone else's OC in here... Please message me! ;3 AND, this is a GIGANTIMUS school, so if you guys need a visual, yeah I'll draw it for you xDD Big school=a lot of classrooms=Teachers needed. I'm still thinking about it.

**Luke:** DD: SHE REJECTED ME ALREADY?

**CCP: **Hush, Luke. Don't cry now.

**Luke: **; ; ..... Uhm... er... Reviews for candycane? :D I WANNA KNOW WHAT HAPPENS NEXT :'O AND GAWD DO I LOOK SMEXY IN THE ANIME.

**CCP:** DONT MAKE ME GO POW HAMMAH ON YOU. But you are right about that 8D

**Luke:** Yes ma'am.


	4. Cogitation, Confusion, and Class

**CCB: **Hello! I am back and still lazy! :) But I got this done, thank goodness! To clear up some confusion, this is the third day since the beginning. It should follow Tales Of the Abyss's day of the week thing and the months. I'll get that here as SOON as I can find it!

**Disclaimer: Just like the last.**

Remday, Lunaday, **Ifritday**, Undineday, Sylphday, Loreleiday, Gnomeday

[Sunday, Monday, **Tuesday**, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday]

**Chapter 4-Cogitation, Confusion, and Class**

Her eyes ached while her azure eyes stared at the ceiling. Tear was straining them to pass time because she couldn't sleep and she didn't know what time it was. Her whole body was unmoved on the wrinkled bedsheets and her deep brown long hair spread everywhere on the pillow. Her arms were around her Hello Kitty plushie that she secretly took out after Anise went to sleep with her loud, but comforting snores. She hugged it tightly and shrunk underneath it so that the plushie hid her lips. She closed her eyes, it stung immediately but the pain dreamed away, then it was as if her lids were glued together. Luke, that boy was so... how can she explain? He was so strange that she passively grew some kind of feeling for him; whether it was good or bad, she didn't have a clue. She was irritated that she thought that way, blamed herself, then became aggravated that she did that, then grew to hate this boy named Luke. It was a series of emotions she couldn't define.

Tear made a low groan, and then fluttered her eyes open wistfully. Anise told her to stay away from him, and she trusted her too. Reluctant at first, she shifted out of the bed and then hid the plushie in her untouched bags; she'll fix up everything later. The brunette grimaced at her set of books she received including her schedule and her uniform. At haste, she made her way through the slim hallway into her own bathroom. She was slightly impressed last night that this school even provided toothbrushes and some toothpaste. Tiredly, she brushed up, after that; she carefully slid through her hair strands with a comb. The pain was unbearable, for long hair, it is to be expected that a hair knot lies in a bedhead. Tear was annoyed that the hair knot didn't straighten out, so she just left it there and then searched around for a suitable comb. She searched, didn't find it, then went back to resume her miserable combing. Minutes that acted like hours passed until she finished. With woe, she picked up the brown strands of her own hair from the floor and on the sink, rolled it in a disgusting wet hairball, and threw it away in the trash. It was amazing how much hair she sheds while combing. With that, she created this terrible fantasy that she will go bald by the end of the year.

For once, she was too lazy to shower and trotted out of the bathroom to quietly pick up her uniform and take another look at her schedule. Back inside the bathroom, she slipped on the beige long-sleeved one-piece uniform that went down to her knees, a bit longer than Malkuth's uniform. She buttoned all of the dull brown buttons, neatened her collar, and tied her dark blue ribbon (symbolizing the Junior color) and slipped on socks that was five inches over her ankle area. She fidgeted with her hair the most and wondered whether she should tie it up... or not. And her long bang that covered her eye bothered her the most. Honestly, she only left it like that because she didn't want to waste money on getting a haircut and only snipped off hair herself if it gets too long. As for her bangs, she didn't bother too much with it, except this one time where she tried to style it by cutting some of the edges off. Her intention was to leave it like so she could look ominous enough to shut up the stupid male customers; it kind of worked. After that, she laid her eyes upon her schedule and read it silently.

_'First period: Pre-Calculus, second period: Language Arts 3H, third period: Choir, fourth period: Physical Education, fifth period: Fonology, and sixth... World History. My locker is in the Radessian Halls, second floor... great.' _She felt extremely pleased with her schedule, to be honest. She always had loved singing, so third period might be her favorite. Usually, she is an A student, but would always have a B or something in P.E., she loathed running.

Then, without further ado on anything else, she walked out and closed the door behind her, and then she was welcomed by the shrill alarm that made her jump. If ants had vocal cords, one can compare the alarm to a million of ants shrieking at the top of their lungs. It blanked her out for a moment until that minute of hell went away. She then heard a loud and angry groan of Anise.

_"AUGH! THEY DIDN'T CHANGE THE FREAKIN' ALARM!" _the girl cried as she moaned sadly. Tear walked out of the halls to see Anise sitting up on her bed with the most terrifying hair she had ever seen (and she thought _hers _was bad).

Anise sighed once they saw each other. "Oh, you're already dressed?" she asked warily before yawning. "Aw man... they put the morning alarm last year on the last week of school... I guess they're going to do that every morning now... damn." To her surprise, the girl fell backwards against the bed.

"I'm too tired..." she whined.

"What does that alarm mean?" Tear asked boldly.

Anise waved an uncaring hand in the air, "They did it last year to promptly wake up everyone. It's only 7 a.m. and I want to sleep!" she blurted angrily.

Tear stiffened to the girl's fierceness. The girl sighed from the second level, then took off from her bed and stared down from the railings, "You can walk around if you want. Just hold the map by you at all times and stuff. I think they gave you everything, right?"

Tear nodded promptly, for she was ready with everything related to supplies, but mental readiness was a different story. She quickly dug to find her messenger bag and slipped her schedule sheet in the folder she bought last night and pulled out the campus map. She put the bag's strap on her shoulder, and then glanced at the map once more. Bloody hell, and she thought of this before last night, but _bloody hell_, this school is freaking big. "I need to put my books in my locker." she told Anise softly while slipping on her old brown boots that still has its sense of style.

"Then go do it!" The sophomore girl paused, "Do you need me to help...? Oh and to open the door, make sure you use your I.D. card!"

"No, that's fine, and okay." It was by nature for her to be rejecting someone to help her; she was just used to it. Heavily, she scooped the books from the floor, and then sorely remembered her old school. She quickly forgot about it after sending her good-bye to Anise and walked out. Though, she was not alone in the halls. There were girls in uniforms just like her, except some of their ribbons were different. Judging from all of the girls, this must be only reserved for females.

'_Of course...'_ She thought to herself, slightly shamed for questioning the obvious, _'girls and guys are prohibited to be near each other when it comes to sleeping.' _

She ignored the snorts and laughter of the girls and walked through the halls full of girls. After that, she warily walked inside a elevator that was, to her dismay, soiled with three people in there already. Tear would've much preferred it if it was empty, but it would be impossible for a gigantic school like this. Like simple Geometry, big school equals lots of students; it was a postulate that cannot be questioned. With a weak hand, she pressed on the unlit button with a 2 on it, and then stared at it as it glowed. At level 104, the three girls departed to a walk in some halls that looked like a corridor to another set of dormitories. Finally, she was solitude.

Seconds ticked by and it irked her. With so many levels, the elevator was very fast to travel a hundred floors in a few minutes. The _ding_ of the elevator's alarm was a loathing sound to her. Honestly, she wanted to stay in silence a little longer, but quickly walked out once she saw more faces walking in. She noted that they were girls again. Tear turned to her right to see another elevator shaft opening for boys to walk out of. She also noticed that they needed to slide their ID card in the scanner to use the elevator.

_'That's quite smart, Van.' _She praised him silently. Whether it was his idea or not, it was still clever.

She didn't enter the office, like yesterday, but ignored it and walked down the foreign and wide halls of Padamiya. Her azure eyes shifted from one direction to another as she passed a few people. On this lane she was walking down, against the wall, it was full of lockers, three down and about fifty or so across, enough to fill the whole entire wall. To the left, across was a large glass wall that stretched all the way down. Tear took a moment rest her arms by placing her books on the floor and stared silently out the window. Everything outside was so gloomy and blue, the skies were still blanketed by the whites of the clouds, for the sun was hiding this Autumn. The plaza or the quad below looked so beautiful with its vegetation and greens. Smack in the middle of the quad is a giant fountain and a statue of a woman, Yulia Jue, the founder of this school many years ago... Also her great-grandmother. Around the large fountain was perky little flowers that slightly cheered the mood up on this woe morning. Her eyes changed on what she was focusing on, and now she saw her own reflection on the window. Grim at realization, she painfully picked up the heavy books and then continued walking.

She stared downwards as she walked and then accidentally bumped into someone, causing her books to scatter on the floor. "I'm sorry!" she didn't even look at the person and darted down to pick up her books. After collecting three books, she searched around her tiny spot for the fourth book. A pale hand softly pushed her Fonology book to her. Tear gazed up to see a face of a boy with a ribbon that matched her color, his uniform, also beige, blue eyes, blue hair, and a green pendant around his neck.

"Here." he stated bluntly.

"Thank...you." Tear said, in almost a murmur as she grasped the book and stood up. Before she could saw more, the boy was already walking down the halls silently, opposite direction of where she was heading. She pursed a small frown, then continued on this heavy endeavor.

A few minutes passed and she was now staring at her map. "I just need to walk straight downwards, then turn left. Okay..." she closed it up and put it in her tiny breast pocket to the left. Walking down again, her legs were tired as they went on ponderously. On her way, she spotted a man, fairly large looking, but also looked very official in his stiff work-tuxedo. He had a round face, small eyes, and long dark hair. He walked down; his footsteps were like a storm as he walked down in her direction. Her heart stopped for a moment, for she thought for a second that he was going after her, or something.

A voice interrupted her thoughts, and unfortunately, it was his voice. "Ah... you must be Mr. Fende's sister, Mystearica Fende Grants, I believe?"

"Yes." she replied meekly in response.

The man cleared his throat once, "You may call me Mr. Maestro. Mohs Maestro, the current Head of the House of Daath. I am pleased to have you in the House."

That grin of his sent shivers down her spine and she only meekly smiled back.

"Do you need help finding your way?" he asked, sounding fairly eager for some reason.

The sound of heels against the carpet reached to her ears. "I'll do that, Mr. Maestro." That was the voice of her savior, Melissa.

The man looked scornful when he laid his eyes on this girl. "Yes... yes do so." he mumbled, then walked away.

Tear heaved a sigh of relief. "Thank you..."

"No problem." she replied cheerily as she took two books from Tear's load. "Ah, were you walking the whole time? You know there's an indoor tram here right?" She laughed at Tear's bewildered reaction. "Yes, the tram goes throughout the whole school. You just need to slide your ID in and yeah!"

And so, she led Tear to one of the entrances to the electric tram, slid her ID card in, and then beckoned the brunette in the tram. For some reason, the tram reminded Tear of a cleaner version of a subway, except it was full of students and it was a bit bigger.

The soft chats of the morning were nice in the tram as she held on to the leather handles. She spoke with Melissa, whom she came to mind that might be her first friend here. They walked and talked along the way once they got out to the Radessian halls until they found Tear's locker.

"Middle locker, you are lucky. Oh, and don't take your books out. You don't need them for this whole week." Melissa mused as Tear opened her locker tensely before putting her half in and the other Melissa was carrying. After she closed her locker closed, some bell rang. She stared at Melissa with wide eyes, afraid that she was late.

"Oh no, we have five more minutes... Wait, let me see your schedule?" She took the paper from Tear's hand and read it silently. "Pre-Calculus with Mr. Curtiss, hrm? Oh that man is a bundle of fun. He is the Student Council's Head Advisor. He's a fun man, fairly young too. I believe he graduated from this school three years ago. A genius, I would say. Ah... Ingobert... I mean, Mr. Lanvaldear. Oh awesome, we have the same period." She gave it back and smiled brightly. "His class is down that intersection to the left, room..." She giggled softly, "room 666, remember, alright? And whatever you do, don't groan or else, okay?"

Tear stared, at the girl as she walked away, feeling awry. Room 666, it sounded dreadful indeed.

Tear found the room and before she stepped inside, he saw the red-haired boy she loathed, Luke, with a bunch of girls walking inside a room. The feeling of hatred surged in her veins, she didn't know why, but she just felt it. With great effort, she turned her attention away to walk in her own room.

"My, are you the new student?" a sly voice asked.

She quickly turned her head to see a man with spectacles, behind it were two blood red eyes, and he had an unreadable smile on his face. "Y-Yes." she stammered.

"Now now, come in before I mark you tardy. Just because you are the Principal's sister, it does not mean you get any special treatment."

Tear flushed softly and stared at the students, who gawked at her presence. "Of course... sir." Frankly speaking, he scared the wits out of her.

A blond boy in the front row in the side had his legs on his desk, then he whistled, "So that's the chick, heh? I didn't know that such a goat would have a hot sister!"

The class fell in a fit of laughter. Tear was too embarrassed to even be angry at him for insulting her brother.

"Now now, Cemore. _You're _Peony's brother. Where is your twin, Kristy, anyway?" the teacher asked.

"I dunno. She's still a Junior and I'm a Senior so we wouldn't have the same classes." He shrugged, then eyed Tear. "Can she sit next to me?"

"No." The teacher responded flatly. "Ms. Grants, please, take a seat the _furthest away_ from him." And the class chuckled again to the man's antics. Tear sheepishly found a seat nearest to her and then sat silently.

Once the bell rang, the teacher straightened his papers upon the pedestal. "Whether you know me or not, I am Mr. Curtiss. I think some Seniors here remember me, for I graduated three years ago. Now, I'll tell you all in advance that this year will indeed be a long and a hard one." He then commanded, "Cemore, come here."

Cemore unwillingly got from his desk and then walked casually to Mr. Curtiss with his golden eyes gleaming. Tear studied the boy without knowing. On his left ear, he had two piercing, one that wrapped around the tip of his ear, and one at the bottom. He was wearing a color that was exactly like Melissa's, and his ribbon matched Melissa's as well; it was red. Malkuth uniform for males was like a coat over a white buttoned down shirt and some casual pants.

"What do you want, old man?"

"Hand these out."

Cemore took it and did as he was told, except that he winked to a few girls he saw, including Tear. He was handsome, but not her type, because that action quite aggravated her.

"As you read the syllabus, it's basically about the classroom rules and such. You all should know the rules for I hate explaining." Mr. Curtiss sighed, "If only my Junior student was here, he would've explained everything to you. He's a Senior now and in my other class, a disadvantage for you all. Do any of you know a boy named Guy Cecil?"

"Ah, that guy. He's so hilarious, he's scared of girls." Cemore laughed while some of the girls murmured and giggled to one another. "Most likely a virgin forever, I should say." The boy behind him guffawed, so he turned around to give him an obnoxious high-five.

"Yes yes." Mr. Curtiss continued hastily, "Moving on now. I'll be assigning you all homework..." A chorus of groans were heard, then came many fearful shushes. The teacher merely laughed in response, "I guess some of you have not heard that I dislike groaning when I assign homework. Alright, you have a pop quiz now." He stared intently, waiting for another groan, but none of them did so because they were afraid.

"Gimme a break!" Cemore hollered, breaking the silence.

Mr. Curtiss laughed, "Alright, I'l give the slip this time. Don't expect another chance." Immediately, the class cheered.

Tear shuddered; the teacher was too strange... and was slightly intimidating. For some reason, during the whole entire period, she felt as if people were staring at her. Now that dawned the new meaning of 'feeling paranoid'.

After that period was over, she hurried over to go to Language arts with Mr. Lanvaldear, or whatever. His room was 327 in the Abberian halls. She ran awkwardly through the crowded halls where she was pushed aside ruthlessly by passer-bys. She paid no heed to them and only concentrated on her limited time to get to her class. One her walk, she saw a blond haired male looking frantic as he was around a group of girls.

"Uh... I needa get to class...!" he cried as one giggled and step towards him.

"Guy! How can you still be shy around girls?!" A voice demanded, a voice that soulded like shrill nails and thorns. It was a voice of a blond haired girl with a brown headband on her head, a fourth year, with a different looking uniform. It was reddish and all its dark shades, long sleeved and poofy on the shoulders, with its skirt a bit longer than Malkuth's. Her emerald green eyes flared at the boy, he laughed sheepishly.

"I... I dunno! W-Where's Luke...?"

"He already went to my father's class." she remarked with this distinct accent in grace and power.

"I need to get to class too!"

Tear listened until a person from behind gruffly pushed her aside, for she was sort of blocking the way for a minute. She once again hurried to that particular room and entered in haste. She felt like an anomaly since she was breathing heavily in a silent room. They stared at her, and one in particular took great interest in her. It was... that red-head. The idiot that dared to mock her. He made some sort of snickering gesture at her, and she took it quite literally. The girl spoke with Mr. Lanvaldear (this must be that blond girl's father) and he took the liberty of assigning her a seat. Oh, do the Heavens hate her; must she be seated by that brat of a boy? When she first saw him, she saw clearly of how fake he was in his personality. He actually only said one sentence, and she came to dislike him already! It was such a feeling that one cannot quite explain, therefore it was hard to comprehend. She took a seat silently and avoided looking at this so-called Luke.

This teacher, however, did not introduce her, and merely pressed on with whatever schedule he had set up for himself. No one else really paid much attention to her, and that was like a blessing to her. However, the presence of Luke being near her gave her this insane vibe. Because of her Obsessive Compulsive Disorder*, the sight of seeing Luke's once-straightened paper all crumbled up in his folder made her want to hit her head on the wall and scream bloody murder. How can anyone be so... messy?! When she saw Luke's writing, she felt all faint inside; this poor man, so old and yet he must read this! The brunette sighed and then gained Luke's attention.

"Why were you staring at me?" He questioned it as if it was annoyed.

Tear returned the exact irked expression, "You need to get organized." Yes, she said it so bluntly and straight-forward, that she had no regrets behind.

"Well _excuse _me, Miss Oh-I'm-the-principal's-sister!"

Curses. That made many turn their heads at her. She smiled shrilly as she must accept the popularity forced into her. Luke seemed to take this as a victory and then continued destroying his paper with his pencil. The teacher took a notice of this too, and with his old, yet profound, voice, he silenced everyone. For some reason, that man reminded her that he was like a King of some sort. Well that analogy is quite true since he is the leader of Kimlasca, or so it was said from Melissa. The minutes slowly etched away, slower than watching paint dry. Indeed, was this man boring as ever. She did try to pay attention, but she came to the conclusion that it was hard. His voice is so... grand, slow, and dull that it had no effect in teaching. Good Heavens, she must go through this for a whole year?

The bell rang and it was like a song to her aching heart. Next up would be Choir. She hoped with the remaining wits she had that this would deem to be her favorite class. Before she left, Luke gave her this glance of mockery that she hated with a gruesome force. Tear simply ignored it and took her belongings to leave. This room she found by herself, all the way in the Padamiyan halls. Thank goodness there are elevators; this school is much too big to walk from another hall to another on foot. The room was full of pleasant-looking people actually. She actually recalled seeing that blue-haired boy that picked up her book for her. The teacher was a joyful looking and an extremely beautiful blue-haired woman who told the students to call her, 'Ms. Undine'. It was a lenient class, that was for sure. Everyone just chatted away with each other to familiarize themselves. Ms. Undine told the class that today is a day to just relax, and then tomorrow will be actual work day. Tear remained in her seat that resided a row by the window, and just sat there, filling out personal questionnaires given out by the instructor. Honestly, everyone except herself and that blue haired boy were talking away, chit-chatting into their own world. It could be her, but she had never seen such a quiet and a serious-looking boy. She took the liberty of ignoring it and then went back into the world between her and the questions. Those pesky questions seemed to enjoy to come in large numbers.

_'What is your favorite possession?' _She thought for a bit before sheepishly jotting down: my Hello Kitty plushie. She sat there, argued with herself, and then grudgingly erased it. No... no one should know that.

Before she knew it, the bell rang, the pleasant Ms. Undine bid them a sweet farewell with her harmonious voice, and then she was off to P.E. with instructor, Miss Canabile. When she stepped in the gym, she widened her eyes at the size. It was huge both length and width-wise. It was also very loud, as it was crowded with the people in the same period as her. As promised, Melissa walked her merry way over to Tear with a magnificent smile on her peerless face.

"It's good to see you!" she exclaimed happily. "Did you get yourself homey here yet?"

"Not yet, but it's okay." Tear answered modestly. "I brought my P.E. clothes, so do we put them into our lockers yet?"

"Oh, that's tomorrow. They're getting things organized and such."

Hopefully, it wasn't too rude, but she wasn't exactly paying attention to Melissa. By her head, actually, Tear focused her attention to that red-head talking to that blond boy. They were chuckling until a group of girls came. To her surprise, the blond man jumped back and made some sort of squeal in fear. She blinked, the room went quiet for half a second, and then the girls cheered in a horde. It came to be that it aggravated Melissa. She turned around, indignantly, and then walked her high heels over to the crowd to settle them down. Surprisingly, no one really argued with her.

"M-Melissa..." Tear heard the blond boy mutter to Melissa, but she simply turned around to walk back to Tear. How cold... She just ignored him.

It wasn't too long after until the P.E. teachers came out to greet them. There were a few, actually, she identified them with the little knowledge she has inside of her. Mr. Largo is the large, muscular man, Miss Canabile, her teacher, is the eccentric looking woman with an eyepatch and short purple hair, and the other four... She couldn't name them. When they were told to divide according to their teacher, Melissa waved before walking to Mr. Largo's group with the blond. Her breath shortened when Luke walked by her with his usual _wrong _walking manner. Oh... and his backpack wasn't on his back, but rather, his fingers were clasping the backpack's handle. It hung like a bag over his shoulder. Such... _wrongness. _Everything looks so wrong, wrong, wrong! His hair... Must it be so long?

"Stop staring at me." That voice snapped her out of her critiquing thoughts. "If you like me, just say it."

"You jump to the most idiotic assumptions." Tear snapped coldly at him. "Think before you speak. How embarassing is it to be over-confident?"

That silenced him. He glared at her with his deep emerald eyes and then turned away to take a seat in... Miss Cantabile's group. That marks two periods. Oh Yulia, her sweet grandmother from the ages, have mercy!

"Okay!" Miss Cantabile clapped her hands together and then grinned. "I'm so glad I'm back in this school! As you can see, I was kind of busy last year, but I am excited to be with this fresh new batch!"

She heard a whisper that Miss Cantabile was in the military, and lost her eye due to a battle last year.

"Well!" The woman began, "I know it's the first day, and so I decided not to really do anything. But Summer probably gave you that flab in your belly, for some eh? Don't worry, I'll make sure it'll be abs by the end of this year, I'll promise that." She grinned rather... sadistically. The groans were heard, and that only made her laugh, "Oh come on!"

She liked this teacher already. She was so upbeat and full of spirit. Considering that she is a P.E. teacher, upbeat and full of spirit might be a bad thing...

"Okay! Now I'll let you all go out to talk to each other, but let me give you a little tip. You're all fresh Juniors, right? What if you see a cute girl somewhere, or maybe a cute boy! Here I'll help... any volunteers?" Just as expected, there were none. "Fine I'll..." Tear's heart raced like a thousand of drums beating on her weary heart, "You!"

"M-Me...?" Tear's eyes widened as she stood up from the bleachers.

"Yes you!" She smiled wildly, "Oh hey reddie, yeah you. How come you're standing up when everyone is sitting, huh?"

"I do what I want." Luke responded pompously. How can he talk to a teacher like that? It only made Tear's blood boil.

"Well! I guess that means you really want to volunteer, eh? Come on over. It's a good thing I ain't subtracting points yet."

"I don't want to."

Miss Cantabile furrowed her brows in thought and then folded her arms, "Come on now! This girl... Come on, she's hot!"

Tear's face went from pink, to crimson when everyone laughed. She stared in amazement at all of the faces of amusement. The terror... And Luke is... Well, he came over with a gruesome expression of apathy and annoyance.

"Alright, you start first. Now be a gentleman, what do you think of this lovely young lady? Just give us one word."

Luke leered at the teacher, and then at Tear. Her insides went jittery, for when those eyes met hers; she felt a shockwave in her nerves.

"She," he then paused, "Eh. She's a bitch."

Her fist tightened when she heard that. Her face was pale, aghast, surprised, angry... All of the words related to those. Those emotions stirred together in her head as she tried to register it in her head. Her breathing tightened to the silence. Time stood still, the air that used to be breathable became sulky, like the ocean. She was drowning in her shock that someone so idiotic, so... oafish and vacuous would dare call her such a word. Not only to her, but he presented this plainly to the whole entire class. He... just made the worst mistake of his _life. _

Luke: Uh... Oops.

**CCP:** Oops BIG TIME.

Luke: -hides in a corner-

**CCP:** Well that's it! It's a little long here, but I'll get out of this boring stuff soon! The real action will start soon... -evil cackle- Review-comment-critic, whatever! Go ahead!


	5. To Expect the Unexpected

**CCP: **Gosh, it's been a while. Sorry everyone. D; FROM NOW ON, you can meet better grammar and spelling :D I edited the chapters before so it can be a little less confusing as it was. I put up this helpful little thing down here so it can be easier to track days. I'm not too sure that it will be incredibly important or not, but it'll be a little useful.

**Disclaimer: I don't own ToA.**

**Announcement: **_Okay, here's an important message. I've forgotten who created the character __**Faythe Iris **__that is supposed to be in this chapter. O-o Please PM me for confirmation of use!~ Thank youu. __**Ding ding dong, **_**back on track!**

Remday, Lunaday, **Ifritday**, Undineday, Sylphday, Loreleiday, Gnomeday

[Sunday, Monday, **Tuesday**, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday]

**Chapter 5-To Expect the Unexpected**

_'A bitch, huh?'_ Tear thought morbidly as she stabbed her fork to her meatloaf. The first violent act upon this unfortunate slack of meat was not as satisfying as the fourth time. Her action could be looked at by two ways: either she stabbed it to rip away a piece to innocently eat, or she stabbed it to warn the others that she _could be _on her menstruation cycle. None the less, the ones inside the large and bustling cafeteria allowed the girl to sit in solitude in her own table. With frustration, she placed the sturdy plastic fork down and then tucked her chocolate-brown hair behind her ear. It fell down with ease, which added more to her annoyance.

"Hi!" said a perky voice. She glanced up to meet the golden orbs staring back at her. It was a blonde girl with short feminine-boyish (if it could be described that way) hair, tanned skin and had the largest smile she had ever seen. "May I sit here?"

"Sure..." She replied with mild awkwardness. Finally, the stupid piece of meat decided to cleave its attachments with the loaf. Before the meat even got to her mouth, the girl said, "My name is Kristy. Yours?"

"Tear..." She responded as she moved the hand with the fork back on the tray. Her cerulean eyes picked up that Kristy's food was quite... nice. It has its own little compartment and the large steaming steak was in the largest cubicle. It was delightfully accompanied with some mashed potatoes, adorned with the thick and sweet-smelling gravy, some butter-soaked corn in its little pieces, and a random bag of carrots that somehow looked much more beautiful than hers. She even had silverware as eating utensils! It made her look at her tray in shame as the shabby meatloaf sat pompously, waiting to be eaten. She rejected it by pushing the tray up, for she refused to look at it any longer. For some reason, Kristy looked extremely familiar, and her name seems to be recalling something in her.

"Is something wrong?"

She popped out of her thoughts and then hastily shook her head. It was so strange that she really didn't know what to say… Though she must admire this girl for being so bold to merely walk up and sit next to a stranger and get _friendly._ Maybe it was just the person she was. She definitely looked like the type. There were many possibilities. She thought that, perhaps, Kristy knew that she is Van's sibling.

Kristy laughed sweetly when she saw that disturbed look on Tear's face when she went into a trance. "Ahaha, you're really nice!"

The curious expression sprouted on Kristy's face as she stared at the girl with an odd expression of confusion. She only said one word, and the blond already shot random sentences!

She then replied, "Thank you…" To be polite, she tried not to sound puzzled.

Kristy's left hand was holding the silver fork and played with the mash potatoes a bit as she leaned on her other hand. "No need. Anyway, you're probably wondering, 'why is this weird girl talking to me'?"

All she could utter was, "Uh…" This girl… actually seemed smarter than she appeared.

"Well!" She continued as she placed the messy fork on the tray, "I'm from your P.E. class, remember?" Tear let out an unconscious groan, and that apparently made Kristy girlish giggle.

"You know, don't be bothered by it. Luke's always snappy and spoiled like that. Maybe you know my brother too 'cause you're really pretty, and that ass is attracted to my pretty friends."

Did she just say they were friends? Well she didn't mind, but that was really… fast. The gears in her head worked together as she thought. That ignorant face (besides Luke's) popped up in her face, and she figured it out in an instant, "Ce---? Ce…."

"More? Ce-more? Yeah that's him. They say we're twins because we look alike, but I'm younger than him."

"Oh…"

"I also heard that you are Mr. Fende's ---!"

She hushed her down by making an extreme movement with her hands as if she was patting dough violently with both of her palms. "Yes but…"

"Oh wow! You know that's kinda weird 'cause you know…. Van is kind of old."

This conversation was getting no where. Fast.

"Anyway, are you done?" The blond asked with a tilt of her head, her golden eyes twinkled with a brilliant childish vibe that she almost looked like a little dolly. But considering that she's in her P.E. class, she is probably a Junior too.

"Yes."

"Haha! I thought so. The Lunch is pretty bad sometimes, but it's actually good on some days. Though, some people are allowed to get the Teacher's lunch, like the people in the student council. I can't stand sitting in there with _Natalia_ though. She is a straight up b-i-t-c-h!" She recited it perfectly as if she was a little child in a spelling bee. "I'd stay away from her if I were you. I bet that if everyone knew you are Mr. Fende's sister, everyone would be worshipping you instead of her!"

Tear was sipping her juice pleasantly through a plastic straw until she heard that last part. She almost choked on her apple juice and then covered her mouth. A cough escaped and then she paused. Her free hand wavered as she shook her head, "No no… I don't want that to happen. Actually, that's the last thing I want."

"You're so modest!" She giggled again as she stood up and picked up her tray. "But well… I guess that's okay, if that's what you want." The girl stood up and then grinned cheekily, "Come on, want me to show you around?"

"I sort of know my way a round..." Tear responded weakly as she stood up herself and picked up her gloomy tray. Yet, this boisterous girl did not catch a single word. For some reason, she had this tendency to ask a question. "Uhm… do you… know Melissa?"

"Oh yeah! Of course, she's like my best friend! _BFF!!_" Kristy babbled on excitedly as she walked along side with Tear. Her eyes widened as her mouth gaped open as that beautiful, delicate, and savory-looking piece of steak, butter-nipped corn… _a-ghh_! The only treasure saved was… that pack of carrots, which Kristy held affectionately in her palm. She stared down in sympathy as she dumped her food too. Two class of foods from a different world, together in a cruel fate of the trashcan. Oh, woe!

"Here, I'll take that from you!" Kristy placed Tear's tray on top of hers and then placed it on a counter of where they pick it up to clean. She then led the brunette out of the loud cafeteria into the Central Plaza, where the fresh air tunneled into their nostrils. The sky was still patched with clouds at certain places, but it was blue as it was breathless. It was rather humid and sticky since the sun was directly above of them.

"Anyway, didja know Melissa's in the student council too?" She asked as she munched on all of her carrots. In about a minute, the whole bag was empty…

"Yeah, Anise told me."

"Oh! So you know Anise too!"

Tear nodded promptly as Kristy went on, "Well, here I'll give you the dish on everyone here. Who to avoid and who to make friends with!~"

She felt as if she had heard this enough, but was too courteous to stop her from talking.

"Well," she continued, "Melissa is on the A list. Nice it always there, naggy sometimes, but she does it because she loves you. You can ask her anytime for advice or for help with anything really! Shopping, going out, stuff like that, but she's a goody two-shoes sometimes, yet a total daredevil in another. She kicks a lot of ass In competition, and same when It comes to boy problems! I know, she is like _totally_ everywhere. That is kind of what makes her all special and stuff. Well, sometimes she goes a little evil and a little scary, but she doesn't like it when people procrastinate and stuff, like me, yeah?"

She nodded once again as an initial response as Kristy and she took a walk down the plaza. Kristy did go on about something, but she didn't particularly pay attention. The plaza was so nice with the giant fountain in the middle and the vegetation was especially cooling. The flowers seemed so perky and delighted as its little petals and stems swayed against the soft breeze. The Plaza seemed like a park… no, a courtyard of a Palace, or something, because there were giant hedges and trees, benches, and all sorts. Someone can easily get lost here without really noticing.

"Tear?"

That snapped her out of her little thought bubble. She smiled wearily to the girl, "H-Huh?"

"Oh! I thought you like, died inside because you know, I have this problem of talking a lot. I hope it doesn't bore you or anything...."

"N-Not at all!" She was surprised at the modest confession. She didn't know of what to say. So far, she thought that Kristy was a cute, pretty, and a peppy girl that must have millions of friends. It could be a blessing to have her talk to her? Yes, it could be.

"Let's go to the gym to see the guys. Maybe Cemore, Guy, and Luke are there. You know, basketball is a _really _competitive game here. Well sports, actually. Fencing too! Did you know that your brother played basketball?"

This made Tear choke on _air. _Van, her brother, can play basketball? Basketball as in men in shorts, unshaved leg hair, and has sweat beads on their forehead? She could not imagine that at all.

Kristy snorted into sharp laughter. "Yeah I know! It's true though. Van is a really good basketball player and was actually in an official team for a while. They say he quitted to be the principal, you know. It was 'Hod' something… Eh I forgot. Anyway, I think he taught Luke and Asch the basketball moves and kendo and stuff. You know, those two are really competitive, especially in Kendo, and they almost look alike too! Geez like, long lost brothers, like seriously. I'm not exaggerating. But we were proved wrong 'cause Asch has his own parents and Luke has his. Just a coincidence in genes… unless one of their parents was scandalous…!" She caught the expression on Tear's face and then pressed her lips to a smile, "Just kidding! But I dunno. Anyway, let's go to the Padamiyan halls, right here."

She then led Tear to a one of the ten (or something) doors that led to the first level out of three in this particular hall. The doors were opened into the gym, still as wide and as grand as ever. However, this time, the scene was disturbed by those 'sweaty hairy men in shorts'. She strained her vision a second time to get a hold of herself; her imagination has been soaring lately. There was a boy in particular with eyes firing up as red as his long tied-up hair. In her ears, there was a loud sound of thunder, continuously crashing against the waxed wooden floors of the gym. There was a soft rasp of breathing in the midst of the throat-choking game as all of the male's eyes brows were knitted. There was an loud shrill from the sneaker that rubbed against the floor as the ball soared in a complete arc to fall. The ball only fell on the ground once, and between the lapses of time before the ball could even bounce twice, there was a loud cry of victory from the small audience.

The red haired boy smiled with triumph as he wiped away the little sweat beads from his forehead. His jewel-green eyes flashed over as he was bombarded by his team-mates with waving high-fives. Tear stood still with silence veiling her expression. She wasn't _impressed_, but she was _surprised; _that meant two totally different things. She didn't know the term, or whatever, but he was far away from the basket, _pretty far. _What was it, half court, something? Honestly, she didn't know much about basketball. All she was sure was that Luke made an incredible shot. Or… pfft… more like a shabby shot.

She heard Kristy let out a deep breath before she said, "_LUUKE!_" It echoed throughout the whole entire room, the sound diffused with every molecule, particle, or whatever in the air to link into their ears.

At that moment, all eyes rested on them. Her back felt cold as her frightened blue eyes melted underneath a layer of apathy. She bit her lip; she was only faking to look calm. Little did she know, her finger twitched as a response to this great act.

Some gave her smirks as others some muttered to each other. Luke, however, had the corner of his lip stretched up into a half-smirk. He bounced the ball with one hand with an uncaring expression on his face. He walked a bit forward at the adequate distance to speak, "What's it?"

"Where is Asch? Natalia was looking for him." Kristy replied in her normal, sweet-natural tone.

"_Was _looking?" Luke raised a brow as he smirked. It was probably his ways of finding stupid 'loop-holes' and run away from favor.

"_Still _looking." Kristy replied in a dead-serious tone. "Does he, like, avoid her or something? He always disappears whenever she is trying to look for her."

"Beats me." Luke shrugged carelessly as he bounced the ball loosely a few times with his left hand. "Hell, sometimes she would mistake him for me or the other way around. It's annoying."

"Well what can you expect?" Kristy joked as she tried to hold back a giggle.

Luke eyed her and then bounced the ball a little faster. "She may be a real pain, but not all of the time." He then glanced over at Tear and then bantered, "Why so quiet?"

"Do I _really _have to answer that question?" The girl replied bitterly as she glanced off nonchalantly.

"Hey, sorry. It just slipped, okay?" His apology sounded more like a complaint to request for _her _apology. Either way, she didn't even know why he said sorry! He could be saying for about a million of reasons. For instance, _showing his pathetic face to her. _Now she didn't hate him. She just didn't like to see him, or his face… or his smirk, or his terribly disgusting long hair.

She was always a stubborn person and always will be. She didn't file that in as an apology at all. Instead, she leered at him with dull, yet threatening eyes (but it was really an 'eye'). She merely grunted.

Luke seemed a little startled for a second and then blinked a few times after. He them rubbed under his nose and then grinned like an idiot. "Man, you're scary."

"She is right…?" Kristy chimed as she laughed light-heartedly, "Sort of like Jade sometimes."

"Augh… don't even start a conversation with him as the subject."

"Luke, if you're going to be stupid, you're not going to get anywhere. You need help."

"Tch!" Luke snapped, "Whatever."

"Ask Guy for help! You need a tutor!"

Luke glared at the girl for a moment, and then seemed to change his expression over at Tear. Irked, he then turned around and began to walk away. He hollered, "Mind your own business!"

Kristy clicked her tongue in disapproval as the redhead ran back to play with the rest of his mates. "His grades suck more than mine... I bet you could tell that Luke is an idiot from the beginning, right?"

"Yeah." Tear answered grudgingly, "It's written all over his face."

Kristy hollered a laugh and then patted her shoulder, "Ah! I didn't know you were this kind of person!"

She blinked as the blond finished up her laugh. What did she mean? She turned her head to see a couple walking in and chatting to each other. They were very easy to spot because the distance between them was not… normal. They weren't entirely away from earshot, but they seemed as if they didn't want to get near each other. She realized that it was Melissa and that blond boy.

Kristy's face lit up as she flailed her arms in the air, "Guy!! Melissa!!" Without a warning, she took off and ran towards them with her arms in the air. What an eccentric girl.

Once she stepped into that blond boy's personal space bubble, he _shrieked _and skidded backwards until he hit the nearest wall; In this case, It was the wall of the gym. She blinked with pure astonishment and confusion.

That was the weirdest thing she ever saw.

'_A germophobic?' _Tear wondered. She just didn't think that reactions could be so _extreme. _

"_HUH?! _How come you're all fine when you were walking with Melissa?"

"Y-Y-Y-Y… You came out of no where!"

"Baaah!"

Melissa merely chuckled, and once she spotted Tear, she beckoned her over. "Hello Tear! Why don't you come over and meet Guy?"

Tear obeyed and walked over. She looked at him, and the look he gave back was… like a cornered mouse. She still couldn't figure out why. He looked like the type to be extremely popular with girls because of his structure and good looks. Maybe… plastic surgery?

Melissa laughed again once she read Tear's expression. "Guy is afraid of girls… like _literally._ He has gynophobia and this is his usual reaction."

"Oh…" Oh my. She looked at him again, but this time, he had a weak smile plastered on his face. "Uhm… Hello. My name is Tear." The brunette wondered how he can get around this school and still be… okay. Does no one else mind? She felt sorry for him.

Guy chuckled weakly as he hastily fixed his posture into a normal one. "Haha… sorry. Well, yeah I'm Guy. I heard about you a couple of times already, and yeah." His cerulean blue eyes sparkled as his smile dazzled. His whole demeanor changed from an awkward one into a completely dreamy, sparkling one in less than four seconds.

"Oh… did you?"

Melissa nodded in response. "You're actually quite popular on your first day."

The blond shifted her foot and then folded her arms, "She _is_ Mr. Fende's sister. Wait is your last name Grants or Fende?"

"Either is fine." Tear replied flatly. Honestly, her surname did not matter too much to her. She had a slight dislike to both of her last names, but it would never be in her mind whenever someone asks. "Umm… when is the bell going to ring?"

"In about ten minutes." Melissa answered casually as she ran her fingers through her long, wispy auburn hair. The light that shone on her hair created some sort of angelic halo that added to her magnificence. Kristy already looks like an angel with her sweet smiles and musical laughter. It was a habit for Tear to envy other girls because, for some reason, putting herself down made herself feel better.

"Hey, has anyone seen Anise?" Kristy questioned out loud.

"Nope. She's probably with Ion."

"Ok, let's go find her. You up for it, Tear?" Her golden eyes laid on Tear, who merely blinked as the initial response.

"Ah... sure."

"How about you Guy?" asked the soft-spoken Melissa.

"Nah, I'll stay here with Luke. If you see Asch, tell him to come and play against me." He waved cheerfully at them, "I'll see you guys in class!"

"_Byeee!_" Kristy then dragged both girls out of the gym into the hallway. After a couple of steps, the blond went through some sort of spasm. "You guys were talking!! He totally has hots for you."

Melissa looked a little flustered as she shook her head slowly. "We're friends." She responded simply with a sheer smile laced on her lips. "Nothing more. Besides, he seems closer to Noelle or Natalia."

Kristy snorted and then rolled her eyes. "You guys knew each other since Sophomore year! Noelle and Guy only talk in _one _period. Guy _runs away_ from Natalia. I mean, Natalia yells at Guy all of the time, and if you are afraid of women, it makes things worse. Heck, in Guy's eyes, Natalia is probably a vicious sasquatch or something."

"A vicious... sasquatch?" Melissa sighed but her demeanor remained pleasant and calm, "Oh well~" She crooned lightly. It was her tactic to lightly jump off the topic.

Tear was rather curious about this Natalia person. Kristy and Anise spoke of this girl as if she was one to reckon with. Yet, Luke back there defended her. She was a little iffy about how to judge this person because did not meet her yet. She came to realize the direction they were heading and really began to wonder. She figured that it was these kinds of conversations where talk goes on aimlessly as they walk randomly to places. She then realized that they were walking up the stairs into the second level. Tear was about to question, but she decided not to say anything. After that, were approaching a classroom and she stared at the closed door. The number was oddly familiar to her.

"Oh, it's our meeting room." Melissa commented cheekily. "The Student Council area, one of the coolest rooms in the School. There are stairs in there that leads up to another room. It's sort of like a private club room."

"...With a TV and a billiards table and a balcony." Kristy chattered excitedly. "We also have a kitchen in there and a bathroom and all of that. It's _so_ cool."

Tear was hit with appall. She was completely amazed with how wealthy this school could _get. _Suddenly, joining Student Council didn't seem like a bad idea. "That's... amazing!" Honestly she couldn't think of anything else. Suddenly, a siren sounded the air, and that made her body completely stiff. "Ah... time for class."

"Class is right here for me and Melissa." Kristy approached that very room they were talking about and swung the door open, intruding the peace. It appeared to be empty. She automatically walked in due to her pressing curiosity with Melissa. It was a nice classroom, like every other, except this one has a small spiraling staircase going upward.

After Melissa took a seat, she said, "Tear, there's an open seat behind me. Go ahead and sit there, if you want."

Tear nodded and sat immediately. Out of all of the empty seats, the seat she was told to sit in seemed the most comforting. At least she knew that she wasn't sitting on anyone else's seat. That would be utterly embarrassing.

Kristy sat next to Melissa and diagonal from Tear towards the right. She was on the last row, meaning that her seat was the top right corner of the seating layout, closest to the door. "You know… you're sitting where Asch used to sit." She commented with a sullen tone. "That guy is as sour as ever, and it really didn't help with Luke sitting next to him…"

"L-Luke?" Tear blinked tree times in a row. _Luke?!_ Her shoulders slumped. "Oh…"

"Yeah, in this class, he's pretty loud." The blond responded with a wry smile towards the brunette's depression. "But don't worry. He shuts up when Jade or Melissa tells him to. We're all around the same area anyway, so yeah."

Tear was a little hesitant about her seating now. She was sure as hell certain that she did not want to sit next to Luke. Yet, Melissa and Kristy was really the only two she considered friends in this class. Of course, class didn't start yet, and she was oblivious to who else is a classmate. Perhaps, maybe she can get along with Luke. Her lips twitched. It was always easy for her to hold on to a grudge. This won't be easy…

Just then, a couple of more people walked into the classroom all at once. First came in this smiling white haired smiling guy in a red Kimlascan uniform; a Senior. There was like an aura of happiness and content around him until… he tripped on his shoelace and staggered. His forehead, however, hit the podium.

"Oh! Ginji, are you alright?" Melissa asked frantically as she stood up to aid him.

"Dang, Ginji, be a little more careful…" Kristy didn't leave her seat, but it seemed like she was about to.

"I'm fine, I'm fine!" The boy named Ginji uttered weakly as he scratched the back of his head. "I just gotta remember to start tying my shoes… Man. At least Noelle didn't see that or she'll start yelling at me or something."

"Haha, I suppose."

"Well, I'm okay, don't worry about it." Ginji smiled brightly, his brown eyes sparkling. He then walked over to the fourth desk from Kristy on the first row and sat down. He took out some kind of notebook all of the sudden and then started scribbling on it.

Tear tilted her head a bit as she stared at him. He sure did seem like an enthusiastic boy. His brown eyes were intently following his pencil as he went on with whatever he was doing. Then a short haired blond Junior with her classes on her head entered, wearing a Kimlascan uniform, waved at Melissa and Kristy, and then sat next to Ginji. She then started going on about something, forcing him to apologize.

Then another group of girls she didn't recognize, all of different Houses and years, sat on the opposite side of where she sat and chattered loudly.

She dared to not listen to them too long. She didn't want to be rude and eavesdrop. Her eyes followed as a couple of more people came inside. A short pink haired girl held a strange looking stuffed animal close to her walked inside with a scary green haired kid, both of them wearing Daathic uniforms with their ribbons signifying that they are Sophomores. His face looked a little scary, and his hair made him stand out. It was just those kinds of people she would want to avoid. For some reason, that pink haired girl looked oddly familiar. Following up was Cemore and a blond haired girl with a red headband to match her Kimlascan uniform. Both Cemore and this girl were Seniors.

"Yo." Cemore walked casually towards Kristy with his hands in his pockets. He did some sort of hair flip to move his bangs away from his eyes and then grinned. "Oh lookie here! The principal's busty sister is here. Did Luke do you well?"

Kristy made some sort of hissing noise and then hit Cemore's thigh (since she was still sitting down). "Watch it. She's my friend."

"Oh, right." Cemore then glanced over at the blond who was minding her own business at her desk. She was one block diagonal from Tear in the back. "Hey princess, I think you might have competition."

"Shut up." The girl snapped rudely as she flicked her blond hair. Tear had to turn around a bit to see her fully. "Stop calling me that!" Her tone had some sort of high majestic tone, pressured with a sense of power. Either that or this girl has an inferiority complex.

In her opinion, this girl was terribly pretty. Her skin was pale white and her eyes were bright and fierce evergreen. She had strawberry blond hair that looked very well combed and taken cared of, unlike hers. Her hair was long, stuffy, and had knots all over the place. It was safe to say that she was a little jealous of this girl.

"Why don't you go and introduce yourself, princess? She's the chick Luke fired against." Cemore chuckled.

"Oh, _you're_ the girl!" The girl sighed as she shook her head. "Luke didn't mean it. He's just like that." She then stared at Cemore and then looked back at Tear. "How about later? I'm too busy right now." Without another word, the girl sat down and then took out her folder from her _expensive­-_looking purse and kept herself occupied.

Tear was puzzled all of the sudden. She just sort of… refused to introduce herself to her. It didn't matter to her, and so she lost interest and stared down at her pencil. Well, she did feel sort of put down.

"Pfft." Cemore sneered as he shook his head. "Don't worry, I'll let her do her own stuff. She'll get to you sooner or later." He then winked at Tear.

Melissa laughed. "Cemore, sit down."

"Anything for you, toots." Cemore snapped his fingers and then strolled off to the other side of the room. The girls around his area went hysterical or something and began to talk to him.

"Is he always like that?" Tear murmured softly to Kristy and Melissa. She didn't like the adjective, 'busty'.

"Yeah." Kristy replied with disdain. "He's my brother. He used to hit on Melissa like that for a long time."

"He might stick on you for a while." The auburn haired girl added, her expression not showing any displeasure. "Oh, here comes Luke and Guy... I think I hear Anise too."

Tear asked, "This class is a mix?"

"Yeah." Kristy responded as she smiled, "All of Student Council is in this class too. You should _really_ join. We're like a family!"

"_KYAAA! Guy gimme a piggy-back ride!_"

Guy literally dashed in and then turned around and hurried away backwards. "A-Anise! You know I can't!"

The amazing Anise leaped in and held her doll---thing---close to her, "_Boo! _No fun, no fun!"

Suddenly the room got even louder. Anise was yapping away while Guy was against the wall, twitching. Kristy got off her seat and helped Anise torture the poor boy. In addition, the girls and Cemore began making fun of him. Ginji and the other blond girl tried to defend them, but it seemed like they were being ignored. Tear felt a surge of sympathy for him. Only she, Melissa, and that other girl sat in their seat without a word.

During the confusion and the noise, she heard an audible sigh from Melissa. From the corner of her eye, she saw something red slip by into the classroom. Her azure eyes followed the figure, which she loathed so much, into his seat. He didn't seem to notice her and watched Guy being tortured.

"Everyone, please stop it!" Melissa said loudly with a sense of authority. She definitely sounded annoyed.

"Yes yes everyone, sit down." said a voice that sounded far too familiar.

Everyone froze, shut their mouths, and then, in an orderly fashion, sat down in unison. Tear was dumbfounded at the teacher's power.

Behold, it was the uncanny Mr. Curtiss. It was Tear's second time seeing him on that day. There was silence until…

Kristy's hand shot up. "Hi Mr. Curtiss!" She shouted energetically.

Anise, who sat behind Kristy and next to Tear, followed up by saying, "Hii Jade!"

"Good afternoon class. I hope you all are well. All of you but _one _just completed your first full week of school. Don't you all feel fulfilled?" Mr. Curtiss placed the stack of papers on his desk. She was so certain that he intended to make her stick out like that. Tear lowered her head to avoid unnecessary eye contact.

"I graded your pre-tests from yesterday. I'm quite surprised that a few of you will have no trouble passing my class. Though, I won't pass this back, so wipe off that smirk on your face if you think you were the one of the few who did _well._"

From the corner of her eye, she saw Cemore fold his arms and look away.

"Tear."

She sat straight up and answered weak confidence, "Yes?"

"It's nice to see you again. Anyway I have your test. I need you to take it to determine your level in this class." He spoke calmly after he adjusted his spectacles. His blood-shot red eyes were like burning holes into her eyes. It made it hard for her to look at him in the eye because he was _so damn intimidating._

She nodded warily.

"Go ahead and drag your desk out so you can do your test." He waved this _packet _that he called a 'test'. More like a Final exam! Tear approached the man, who had the most pleasant smile on his lips.

"Good luck."

She lowered her head again; it was a half-nod and a sheepish route to not look at his face. '_Oh… grandma… save me…_'

"Luke?"

"What, what?!" cried the red haired boy. Tear noticed that he definitely did not look pleased.

Mr. Curtiss positioned himself as if he was like a colonel in the army with both arms behind his back. "Why don't you help Ms. Grants with her desk?"

"Do I have to?" Luke snapped grudgingly.

"Oh my, that's not the way to treat a lady."

"ˆ_She_?!" Luke began laughing wryly. "More like a cold woman…" he muttered as he eyed off somewhere. The girls among the class began to giggle, and even that blond haired girl who sat behind Luke smiled.

"Oh Luke! How can you be so mean?" laughed the voice of Anise.

She felt her insides curl. Her cheeks flared red with anger as this boy stubbornly continued to humiliate her. And Anise… was she laughing at her too? She felt ashamed. She thought she could trust her roommate.

"I'll do it." Guy volunteered as he stood up. He sat in front of Guy and next to Melissa, and so he was already in the process of carrying the desk outside of class. Because of his stature, he was able to carry it out without a problem.

Mr. Curtiss didn't budge or move a muscle. He remained in that position with an uncanny aura until she walked out.

Then, he said, "Take your time." After that, he walked towards his desk to organize and pass out some papers.

Before leaving the classroom, she took a glance at Melissa and Kristy, and they smiled weakly back at her. As she stepped out, she eyed Luke, who sat like a spoiled child who was refused to. With the packet in her hand and her pencil case in the other, she slowly walked over to the desk.

"Thank you…" She muttered softly as her eyes avoided his face.

Guy rubbed his chin as he smiled weakly. "Hey, I'm really sorry about that. Luke's just in a bad mood. He's not always like that. Truth."

It was something about his voice that made him so trustworthy. She could bet some of her lunch money that he probably has almost all of the girls in this school swooning over him. Tear wouldn't deny that he was handsome, but she didn't know. She was too shaken by too many emotions to really bother. "Yeah…" She grimaced at the desk, somewhat sadly. There was one thing that bothered her. He seemed to be a nice person, and Luke was definitely not acting nice. If they were best friends, why didn't Guy do anything? And… what made him so confident that Luke is not 'always like that'?

A soft chuckle escaped from the blond boy, "Don't worry. I guess he's just like that to all pretty girls he likes."

To that, she blushed. Tear tried to turn around to ask him to clarify, but he already walked inside the classroom. His words left her in a fury of confusion. She heard earlier that Guy is Luke's best friend. Would he know?

Tear bit her lower lip as she hastily took a seat and then tried to concentrate on what was in front of her. Yet, she still couldn't help but to wonder.

Was he just saying that? …To tease her?

It bothered her during the whole period while she was taking the test. To be honest, the test was very easy. Fonology was like common knowledge to her. She knew all about the elements and what they do, what they compose of, and all of those details. While she was filling in bubbles, she thought of her choir teacher. Ms. Undine. She always thought that her last name was very strange because… well… it reminded her of Undineday, and Undine the element.

Huh, that was something else to wonder about.

She then dropped her pink Hello Kitty eraser and then searched for it. It came in handy this time around because she accidentally skipped a problem and bubbled in another answer of it…

Before she filled in the last of her answers, she heard chatter rise from inside the classroom. Tear stood up and silently walked inside to turn it into Mr. Curtiss. He was stationed on his desk, doing some more paperwork. She handed it to him mutely.

"You finished that test in fifteen minutes." Mr. Curtiss commented as he took the paper and skimmed through it with his nimble fingers. "You didn't cheat, did you?"

That took her by surprise. She quickly shook her head.

Mr. Curtiss laughed lightly. "I am just joking. I know you wouldn't." He then stamped the corner of the test with a red picture of a unicorn. That made her question him in her mind because she dared to not speak to him. "We're discussing in groups at the moment. Anise chose you in her group so go ahead and ask her for an explanation."

Tear nodded and murmured, "Thank you." before leaving that area towards the group by the door. Melissa, Kristy, and Anise turned the tables so they can face each other. The fourth desk was empty, left for her. Melissa was holding the packet and seemed to be in the middle of explanation. The brunette slid in and took a seat and tried to do so precariously. Of course, someone noticed before she even blink.

"Hi Tear! How was it?" Kristy asked, her golden eyes sparkling.

"It was okay." Tear answered. She should have said that it was 'incredibly easy', but she didn't want seem as if she was showing off. "What are we doing?"

"This is the protocol for a simple fill-in project. There's a bunch of instructions and do-this and do-that's." Melissa continued as she turned the packet to the first page. "We're already done and you can review this if you like." She then handed it to Tear.

She only skimmed through it as Anise and Kristy began to chat about something she wasn't familiar with. It wasn't a surprise to her that she already knew everything in the packet.

"Hey… guys." Kristy whispered in a low tone as she hunched down a bit to her desk. "What's with Luke huh? I can't believe he did that to you, Tear."

Anise sighed. "Luke is a brat sometimes, but we can't really do anything about it."

"He's never been such a boob like this!" Kristy replied with a snappish tone. She figured that Kristy's tone originated from that response to Anise's laugh earlier to add to the moment. Tear mentally forgave the Sophomore because she figured that maybe it was just a slip.

Tear leaned back, away from the conversation and leered over at the next group. Luke, Guy, that girl with the classes on her head, and the other blond girl who… had a bad vibe. She should start learning more names. It was funny how Guy's seat was pretty far away from the two girls' seat. Anyway, they were thoroughly discussing about something that had a feeling was out-of-topic. Just like them.

She then noticed that someone waved at her; it was Cemore. He smirked at her playfully, and that only caused her to look away and lean forward into the conversation.

"Anyway," Kristy began cautiously, "we need to make that brat stop with his sour act. He's like treading through the school without a problem! He's an idiot and a troublemaker, and yet, he gets away with it! What's up with that?!"

"Melissa, don't you talk to him a lot?" Anise crooned as she leaned on both of her hands, her arms supporting up her head.

"No." She answered flatly.

"She talks to his best friend." Kristy giggled.

"But still, I see you guys talking a lot! Luke, I mean." Anise pouted. "I wish I could get to know him more. I hear he's _loaded!_" Tear was almost disgusting to see Anise's chocolate brown eyes twinkle.

"_Just like every other guy in school."_ Kristy answered in an almost-mocking tone. She rolled her eyes. "Face it; I guess we can't do a thing."

Melissa shook her head. "If we can't do anything, let's not talk about it."

"What else can we talk about? We have like ten minutes left." The Sophomore whined.

Kristy paused. "Uh… um… well Tear? How do you like this class so far?"

"It didn't go as I expected." Tear answered with sour honestly. That gained a chorus of a laugh from all three girls.

"Yeah… don't worry about it." Anise began playing with her doll's arms. "If anything else happens, I'll use Tokunaga and beat the crap out of him."

"I thought you wanted to get to _know _him." Kristy retorted.

"_Well_, he still gets annoying!" She answered defensively. Tear feared that this argument might get too far.

"Hey guys, calm down." Melissa soothed the situation out with ease. By Lorelei, her voice was like a heaven's sent directly from the Angel of Peace. "Anyway, Tear, would you join Student Council?"

"H-Huh?" She blinked.

This time, both girls found something to excite and be eccentric about together. "Oh yes, join with us!"

"It's loads of fun! Though Jade won't let us go up there right now…"

"Ohh! Join! It's really really fun!"

She completely lost track of who was talking to her now. There were two voices going off at once.

"Settle down girls." said the teacher from his desk. The class quieted down abruptly before the volume rose a few seconds after.

"_Pleaaase_?" Kristy blinked innocently with her hands clasped together.

"It's loads of fun!" Anise mimicked her and did the same thing.

"Uhhh…" was her only response.

"Let her have some space." Melissa leaned back on her chair. "If you want to join, you an ask any of us… or Mr. Curtiss. He is the advisor, after all. But…"

"Natalia and Luke are also in it." Kristy murmured softly as if it was a dreadful secret. "Natalia is that blond, scary-looking chick with the headband, if you haven't noticed…"

"I think she doesn't like you." Anise added with a frown. "She called you a 'maid-servant'. You know… those janitor ladies around the school? She thought you looked like one."

"Guys!" Melissa snapped loudly to the two of them.

And then the bell rang.

Everyone got up and began moving the desks back into position. Their group was the last to stand as everybody else packed up and zipped out of the classroom. She noticed Melissa's hard stare at the two other girls, who smiled weakly as a response. It wasn't as bad as Melissa thought, but she did feel down.

How come she felt as if she was one of the most hated people in the school? That lowered her spirits quite a bit. To be honest, she did kind of look like a maid girl… She wasn't wearing any fancy headbands or any jewelry like her. She didn't have a fancy car and a posse to open doors for her.

She was just Tear.

"My class is on the other side," Kristy interrupted Tear's thoughts, "I'll be heading out quickly, okay?"

"I'll walk you…?" Melissa asked Tear weakly with a small smile.

"Isn't your class next to mine?" Anise blinked as she stared at the Senior. "We're going to be late!"

"Oh alright." Melissa answered with a slight, rare, frown on her pink lips. "Goodbye Tear!"

"Bye Tear!"

"See you later!"

Tear waited until the last of them walked out to say 'bye' because she was too occupied to find her lost eraser. It was her favorite eraser too. It was a really terrible day for her. She was also the last person in the room besides the teacher. In other words… she was alone with the teacher, the very scary and intimidating teacher. To that thought, she quickly packed up and tried to forget about her eraser.

"Tear? I would like a word with you."

Rats! Just when she was about to leave. Tear obediently walked over to Mr. Curtiss's desk and waited.

Mr. Curtiss waved the packet as he did last time. There was a pink mark that said 'A+' with a circle around it. "You got a perfect score. Congratulations."

To this, she tried to smile. It was expected, of course. She found it relatively easy.

"You're the third person to get a perfect score. Maybe I should make them harder next time." Mr. Curtiss muttered as he skimmed through a pile of tests. He then pulled out the one he intended to show her and did so. "You seem to be on bad terms with Mr. Fabre." He said as he placed a stickie note over the score before she could even catch a glimpse of it.

He then took the pile and then straightened it, and then placed it down gently. The teacher then moved his computer mouse to click on his grading file. "Well, I'll tell you now that Luke isn't the brightest bunch in my lot." He then double-clicked it. "He's too careless to get anywhere." The screen full of small numbers and names appeared. Mr. Curtiss scrolled down to locate Luke's name. He then moved the mouse horizontally across to the grades, skipping over a couple of 0's and half-credited projects. _Terrible._

The final grade was a D-.

That horrified her.

"I know." Mr. Curtiss shook his head slowly. "It has only been a week for him, and he's already close to failing. He's a stubborn kid, and he has this grade in my other class too. It's not like I don't like him. His attitude irritates me sometimes, so it makes me not want to tutor him myself" He grinned. "Don't look at me the wrong way, Ms. Grants. I am a very busy man. I tried to get Mr. Gailardia to help out, but it seems that he couldn't get him to it either, as he is busy. Ms. Ganbantien, or Melissa, is much too busy as well. So perhaps…?"

He turned his computer chair to face him. Tear just noticed that he was wearing a blue coat with the Malkuth crest on it. He leaned on one arm that rested on the edge of the desk. "Perhaps you can help him, Ms. Grants?"

She didn't know what to say. She did not want to help the boy who humiliated her for _no reason_. He just didn't like her! She could feel it. Why should she help him? Yet, in this case, she didn't have the courage to voice out her thoughts.

Mr. Curtiss's lips curved into a sly smile. "Come on, Ms. Grants. I _know _it won't be as bad as it sounds. This can be more like an extra credit project that will assure your A, no?"

Tear froze in place. Was he trying to bribe her?

He didn't seem like he was going to give up, but he shifted legs that was over the other. He turned away from her to face the computer. "I won't force you to anything."

Regardless, his tone seemed _very_ commanding. Tear didn't know why she felt a little faint all of the sudden. The silent minutes seemed to etch around her throat. The ticking minutes pressured her with the threat of being late to sixth period. After much thought of _nothing_, her lips moved to form the words, "Okay."

She was then horrified at herself that she said that.

Mr. Curtiss grinned in return. "Excellent." He then scribbled a few things on his own personal stickie note with his name on it. He then handed it to her. He wrote something in a curvy handwriting that was very hard for her to read.

"I'll tell Mr. Fabre about this tutoring program. I already assigned him a project that should be due tomorrow. I'm betting that he procrastinated all of last week until now. The library should be open during the morning and after school. He should be there. No," He smiled once more, "he _will_ be there."

That ran chills down her spine. It felt as if he planned _all _of this_ out. _With the paper in her hand and her beg on her shoulder, she nodded. "Okay."

"Just help him out if he needs anything. He should bring the book himself." Mr. Curtiss then gave Tear another piece of paper. "This is your late pass if you don't make it."

Tear nodded again and then thanked him as she walked out. She folded the letter with the tutor information in her breast pocket and walked with the late pass in her hand. The brunette felt extremely glum and regretful. As she walked, she pulled out her schedule to locate her class.

"Mrs. Osborne…" Tear read softly to herself. Her class was located in a small section of the hall named 'Sylvana'. She paused.

Her class was actually 6 classes down. She smiled to her stupidity and then hurried into her World History classroom before the bell rang. Inside, an attractive blond woman with spectacles greeted her. Her eyes were also crimson, like Mr. Curtiss's, but it seemed like a softer shade. For some reason, they looked similar. The woman smiled, "Welcome! Come now, take a seat. The bell is about to ring. Oh, can I have your schedule to sign?"

Tear obeyed and gave her the schedule and then took the only vacant seat. In this class, she only recognized that blue haired boy in her choir class… No wait, his eyes are golden, not blue. Puzzled, she decided to not look at him anymore. As for everyone else, she couldn't tell. Her seat was the mid-row horizontally and vertically. Smack in the middle.

"Tear Grants," The woman read aloud. "Welcome, Ms. Grants. My name is Mrs. Osborne. It looks like you have two classes with my other brother."

Her mouth almost dropped. Who knew that they were siblings? Actually, once she thought about it, it was possible. They were both extremely attractive for their age (she had to be honest). Mrs. Osborne looked very young as well, and she must be a lot younger than Mr. Curtiss. Why, she is even a married woman! Tear envied her beauty, for, because of that, she got married already.

"if you got any time, you should go ahead and introduce yourself to her, everyone." Mrs. Osborne went on as she paced back to her desk. "Actually why don't you do that now? Or skim through Chapter 4 about the Dawn Age and read the notes. I'll be right with everyone after I finish copying out your Cornell notes sheet."

Tear sighed softly. She hated Cornell notes above everything. Nobody seemed to say anything to her and minded their own business with Chapter 4. A sudden frown slipped into her lips. She still felt a little left out. Then she realized that she didn't bring her book…

"Hello." It was a very soft and a sincere-sounding voice. It was so soft, delicate, and motherly_. _She was surprised to see that such a serene, melodic originated from a boy. It was a green haired boy with the most humble face she had ever seen. For some reason, she felt incredibly safe and eased.

"H-Hello…"

The boy smiled. His uniform was beige, a Daathic color, and his ribbon was green, in other words, he was a Sophomore. "My name is Ion. Nice to meet you." Since he sat to the right side of her, he reached his hand out to shake hers.

"Ahm… Tear. Nice to meet you too." She was still a little dazzled by his holy aura.

"Where is your book?" Ion asked curiously after he reeled his hand back to his lap.

"I have forgotten…" The brunette answered, her cheeks tinting pink.

Ion then looked at his book and then handed it to her. She noticed that his hands were shaking while he was holding the large book up towards her. She had no choice but to take it off his poor hands! Once she let it rest on the desk, she asked, "But, don't you need it too?"

The boy shook his head. "I already read ahead and took my Cornell notes. It is fine."

She nodded thanks to Ion and tried to hold up a smile that would match his; Impossible. His smile was like a thousand of… flower petals or something. She couldn't keep up with that after what she had been through.

The girl then quickly turned to the assigned chapter and began reading and skimming through it. World History could be a little boring sometimes, but she can keep up with it. Though, at that time, she felt incredibly miserable.

How will she stand to be alone with Luke? For sure, she knew that he was going to snap something hurtful at her. She can be sensitive sometimes, and it is even worse when she does not know the reason why. She would understand if she did something wrong. For example, drop his money or something. But, she did not do anything wrong! What did she _do _to deserve that kind of behavior?! Or perhaps, does he just hate her because of who she was.

That was what she _hated_! It is when something goes on without a reason, or a reason she is aware of. It just makes her mind a mess and tangled up in all sorts of places.

"Tear? You're making funny faces."

She blinked as she looked over to her right to see Ion sitting on his seat facing her. She blushed. She figured that he was watching a silent version of what she was going through a minute ago.

He laughed, adding to her embarrassment. "Are you okay, Tear?"

"Kind of… Yes. I am okay." She answered softly.

"I heard about you from Anise." Ion said with a grin. "She says that you are a nice person. You must be a really nice person for her to say so."

She was rather surprised for a bit. "Oh, Anise? Are you close to her."

Ion nodded. "I was home schooled up until 8th grade. When I first entered High School, Anise was my first friend."

Ah, no wonder why he looked so naïve. He was home schooled. Tear felt this motherly feeling to protect this boy. Though, who would hurt such a nice, cute, and a harmless boy? "Is that so? That's wonderful." Then, she just realized that she finished the whole chapter. Van did always say that she was good at multi-tasking.

"Oh… this computer isn't working." Tear heard Mrs. Osborne grumble at her desk. The woman stood up and then put her hands on her hips, and then sighed. "I guess I have to ask Saphir for help… Ah, kids, I guess the period is over. I guess no homework either…"

Her classmates begin to cheer with cries of joy.

"Okay guys, how about studying? Expect a quiz tomorrow."

Then a series of groans chorused. Tear found herself laughing. They were extremely similar. The bell rung and everyone got off their seats. Most of them cheered happily that class was over and went off to eat or go back to their dorms. The brunette packed her things and then offered Ion to hold his book.

"No, no. I am okay." Ion took the book from the table and then bowed his head slightly. "Thank you!"

"Please," Tear blushed lightly with a smile. He was _so_ cute! "Thank _you _for letting me borrow this book."

"Good luck Tear! I need to meet with someone. Bye bye!" And without another word, the boy walked off. Mrs. Osborne sat at the desk and then looked at Tear. Oh she was alone with the teacher again.

"Are you leaving now, sweetie? I can't leave until you do."

"Ah, yes!" Tear then quickly hurried to the door. "Goodbye, Mrs. Osborne!"

"Yes, goodbye! I'm sorry that your first day was so boring. I promise that it'll be better tomorrow!"

"Ah, thank you!"

Tear found herself walking down the hall. She felt like there was a void of dark clouds above her head. She pulled out the note from earlier and read its contents.

7:00 A.M. to 7:50 A.M. was the time in the library. After-school tutoring would start ten minutes after school actually ends, or 2:50 P.M. The brunette paused in her steps. '_He didn't mean today right?_' She glanced back at the note. Her eyes squinted to read the last sentence. The color in her face flushed out.

It was almost illegible, but she could make out the words: 'Yes. After-school tutoring starts _today. _:)' It would be much better if he did not include a smiley-face. It was as if he was mocking her misery. Then realization hit her after she checked her watch. Seventeen minutes passed since the bell rang. She bit her lip as she hurried down the steps into the first level and darted across the Padamiyan Halls. Her heart was racing as her legs moved. '_What if he is waiting…?' _The tension gnawed on her. She would always feel pressured if someone was waiting for her. She is rarely late, but this time, it was way passed the due time.

She had to say 'sorry' so many times as she bumped into a series of students. Most of them glared at her or grimaced at her as she passed by. She couldn't blame them. They were just peacefully trying to get to their locker… until she accidentally elbowed them or shoved them forward. All of that just added to the pressure. She was almost out of breath when she found the passage to go to that transportation area. On a side note, she realized that it was actually a 'subway' not a 'tram'. It was pretty dark compared to the lighting in the hall, but that still didn't stop her. Her nimble legs hurried down the steps. She bumped into more people, who all gave her the evil eye. Her back ached in pain because it suddenly felt heavier. She felt the sweat forming behind her bangs. With disdain, she wiped away the sweat away and then let her hair fall to suffocate her skin.

Wait…

She realized that the subway doors just swung closed. "W-Wait!" The girl was almost out of breath. Her azure eyes dimmed as she blinked a few times. Each blink became heavier than the last. Her breathing slowed as the rail blocked her from going anywhere. "Wait…"

There were so many people. They all murmured and whispered as the stood and blocked her way out. She was so close. She was trapped… The girl bit her lip with utter defeat. He's probably still waiting… waiting. It would take some time to smuggle her way out of this crowd and dash through to the Abberian halls. The library was in the second floor! Oh curses.

She continued to try and catch her breath as she leaned forward against the cold iron rail. Tear gazed down blankly as she heard the melody of her breathing. So close…

And she thought that, maybe she could try and make up to him. He was probably gone. Luke seemed to be the kind of person who would give up on anyone… especially her. She cursed. It was her fault for being so careless with time. Luke would definitely complain and then tell Mr. Curtiss…

Then he would probably dislike her too.

She groaned and then she sighed. This whole entire day was full of nothing but despair. Despair and broken hopes. She thought that maybe her first day would be fine, but who knew it would be so unfortunate. There were already a handful of people who dislike her. She couldn't figure out why. It made her so frustrated that it made her a little dizzy. The air was suffocating her. The damp air was making it hard for her to stand. She held the rails tightly as she sunk her head. Her eyes closed. She wished she never entered this school…

"Geez, calm down." A voice said. "The subway is going to come in only a few minutes. What's the rush?"

Tear stood straight up and then turned her head to the left. No one was looking at her until then. She then turned to the right to see…

"Luke." She uttered with wide eyes. She was breathless.

There he was, with a Fonology book in one hand and a backpack over one shoulder. He smirked at her. "I forgot my book."

She felt extremely faint. She only blinked slowly as a response to his words. "Oh…" She managed to say.

"Hey you look kind of… Are you okay?" She then heard a dropped book and a backpack. Everything became a little fuzzy. She blinked a few times. Her eyes were set on the ceiling as it grew dimmer every time. Then she saw green eyes that sparkled like emeralds. She felt an arm around her shoulder.

"Are you okay? Hey, answer!"

She stared at him as if she didn't understand a single word he said. His face was so…

"…C-C'mon!"

…_beautiful_.

"Is she okay?" asked a foreign voice.

"What's wrong?" said another.

More voices paraded in. "Should we call the nurse…?"

"Hey! It's goatee's sister!"

She didn't care about those voices. They were growing louder, but there was only one clear voice she could hear.

"_T-Tear!!" _

Then she met the abyss.

**Luke:** OMG. WHAT'S WITH YOU AND CLIFFHANGERS?

**CCP: **THEY'RE FUN!

**Luke:** -hyperventilates- WHAT'S WRONG WITH TEAR?

**CCP: **_Stop with the caps_. They are annoying me.

**Luke:** Sorry… : -sobs- You took forever to update.

**CCP: **_I'm sorry!! _I BLAME SCHOOL. Now I have TONS of time! OH GUYS. I also some links to understand where is where and what continent it associates with.

ahh the links dont work.

**CCP: **I will add to my profile… same for the uniforms. I drew them all, but it was a long time ago.

I guess I'm just going to re-edit it. ^-^

**Luke:** BAHH HURRY UP WITH THE NEXT CHAPTER. D: GUYS, help me voice out! Review+Subscribe to rise up this girl's terrible morale. *attacks CCP with inspiration sparklets-

**CCP: **Ahhh! –hides under a rock- DON'T WORRY. I WON'T PROCRASTINATE TOO MUCH. :"D

Bye byeeee!


	6. Surfacing Secrets

**CCP:** Hellooooes everyone! Here's another fresh chapter! Wohooo!!

**Disclaimer: I don't own ToA and the two characters: Alex and Adrian, owned by Caoeuti.**

**Special thanks:** TO CHIPP. I LOVE YA BRO. He is the awesome one who helped me out. (:

Remday, Lunaday, **Ifritday**, Undineday, Sylphday, Loreleiday, Gnomeday

[Sunday, Monday, **Tuesday**, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday]

**Chapter 6-Surfacing Secrets**

Everything was silent. She felt a little stiff in the body and attempted to squirm her way into comfort. It was strange because she just realized that her body was shaking softly. There was also a distinct humming noise in the air; a sound that would originate from a working machine. Her shoulders were a little cold, but her elbow and below were warm. Tear also felt that her head rested on something cushiony. Then, she heard some soft chatter.

Slowly, she opened her eyes. The haze covered her sight until she opened her eyes completely. There was a leather handle dangling by the vertical lights. She stared at it as that rope dangled in the air. There was a slight feeling of familiarity in the scene she was witnessing; yet, she could not figure it out. "… Where am I?"

"Tear… you're awake!" said a soft, cheery voice.

Her eyes moved down to see a green haired boy sitting across from her. It was… Ion. "Ion?" She mumbled softly as she slowly sat up. "Why are you… here?"

"It's about time you woke up." It was the voice of her unpleasant classmate. Luke was sitting next to her in his white dress shirt. The only thing missing in his usual attire was his jacket, which, was on her lap. "We had to do so much…"

The girl realized that she was undressed to her tank top. He probably… She knew that he was the one that did this. Besides that, she felt a little wet… around her chest area.

The impulse ran to her arm already.

All in a swift movement, her hand slapped across one of his cheeks and then left a red mark. She did not expect that she put in so much strength that the redhead fell back from his seat. Quickly, she took his jacket and pressed it against her bosom to cover up; she wasn't used to exposing so much skin. "H-H-How dare you?!" She gawked as she scooted back so her back inched closer to the end of the long chair. Of course, Tear has a colorful imagination.

"Tear!" Ion raised his voice suddenly, but it was still very delicate-sounding. "He didn't---"

"What the hell?!" Luke interrupted. He then scrambled up on from the floor and then growled, "What was that for? I didn't do _anything_! I swear! I wouldn't want to touch you anyway!"

He sounded rather defensive, but that was all she wanted to hear. He didn't do anything to her. Yet, there was this part of her that still made him untrustworthy.

"Don't worry, he was freakin' out too much to do anything." A feminine voice said. Tear turned her head to see that blond girl with the glasses on her hair from Fonology class. "Hi again! I was the one who took off the three layers of your clothes. You were laying on them, right there." She pointed at the bundle Daathic clothing at the end of the seat where her head was. Her over coat, dress shirt, and ribbon were lying there.

"Ion said that you were over-heating," the female Junior explained with a weak smile, "I guess it was because you were running everywhere. You over-heated because you were dehydrated and luckily, I had a bottle of water. Luke here took it from me and attempted to pour some in your mouth but he missed. Rest assured, he didn't touch anything else."

Luke then mumbled to himself madly as he leaned against an iron pole with arms folded. Tear exhaled audibly. So _that _was why. "T-Thank you. I'm sorry you had to go through so much trouble."

"Nah, it's nothing!" She grinned with a thumb up. "Oh, and my name is Noelle. You feel alright now?"

"Yes…" Tear responded with the jacket still close to her body. She then looked over at Ion who sat there, like a doll. "Ion, I thought you were looking for someone."

Ion nodded. "I remembered that you are Anise's roommate. I wanted you to deliver something, but you were running so fast I couldn't keep up…" He smiled weakly. "When I went into the subway area, you were already unconscious. So Noelle and I carried you in while Luke drove people away to take the other subway…"

"He was really aggressive with it too." Noelle added with a short chuckle. "That's why it's dead empty in here."

Tear pursed her lips and then looked behind her. They were moving at a pretty fast pace. It was dark out in this tunnel, and the only thing that illuminated the way were little lights aligned in a straight line on the bottom of the wall. "How long was I unconscious?"

"It took about five minutes until the next sub came over." Noelle then began calculating in her head. "I guess, around nine minutes or ten?"

"Where are we going?" Tear asked quickly after the response.

"We figured that it was something pretty bad. We're heading to the nurse's office in the main building." Luke replied casually. "We're about to stop at the Daathic building underground."

"Isn't that away from the library then?" Tear blinked. She wasn't thinking clearly at that time.

"Well, _yeah._" Luke said snappishly. "Why would we go the other way to the nurse's office? This was obviously the closest route."

"So, no tutoring?"

"I thought you were smart!" The redhead spat sarcastically. "Of course not! Unless you want to waste your time."

"Tear, this is your dorm building right?" Ion tilted his head. "Maybe you can head in and rest."

"But Luke," Tear insisted, "you have to finish your project for Mr. Curtiss."

Noelle made a soft _'ooh'_. "Wow, a personal project from Mr. C. huh…?"

"Screw that old man!" Luke exclaimed indignantly. "I don't care about any stupid project…"

Tear furrowed her brows. "You're at the borderline of failing!"

"So? Why do you care?" Luke put a hand on his hip. "I bet you're only doing this for the grade. Pfft." He glanced away and his expression was clearly irritated.

Tear's blood began to boil. Such ignorance…! He was the kind of people she could not tolerate. "Luke, if you're going to keep such an act up all the time, you're never going to get anywhere." She breathed out, "Idiot."

Luke paused and then stared at her. She returned with a long cold stare back at him. There was like a mental battle going on between them. Her reason to help was…

Well, honestly, she didn't really have a reason.

"Tch." Luke closed his eyes and then went back to folding his arms. "Fine."

She was surprised. The girl had absolutely no idea how that all worked out. Nevertheless, she didn't reveal a smile in triumph. She kept herself content with her cold poker face.

Tear then saw Ion smile and then turn to look at Noelle. She gave them a suspicious eye. Both of them were exchanging silent words.

"I need to go back to my room." Ion announced after the subway halted at its stop. They traveled to the Daathic Tower and quarters. He stood up and then bowed his head slightly. "Are you three going to stay here?"

"Not me!" Noelle grabbed her backpack and her folder, "I gotta go do my project with my partner. Here is my leave." She then glanced over at Tear and then grinned. "Be careful, okay? Drink a lot of water and eat too." Once the doors automatically slid open, she weakly waved at the two and then walked out with Ion.

Tear managed to wave back at them and stared as they left. There was an awkward silence. No one seemed to come in for a minute or two. It was extremely empty compared to the stop at the Padamiyan stop. The whole entire time, she dared to not look at Luke. She also kept his jacket close around her body to cover up. It would look much too strange right now…

During the midst of silence, a blue haired boy entered. He looked exactly like the boy from her choir class… and her history class. Those two looked identical… except one had blue eyes while the other had gold. Was she crazy or hallucinating, or something?

He was the only passenger on this path besides them. The boy in a Daathic uniform sat on the far other side and began reading his book.

"Alex." She heard Luke say. "What are you doing here?"

The boy whom Luke called 'Alex' glanced at their direction. His golden eyes flickered at them with displeasure. He seemed to not enjoy to be disturbed by Luke. "I'm about to go out."

Luke then almost scowled when he said this, "With Asch?"

"Yeah."

After the conversation, both of them immediately looked away to officially put a stop to their talk. She found that strange. Luke finally retreated away from the pole he was leaning on and then sat back on the vertical seat. He was about a foot away from her and looked like he didn't want to talk to her. Instead, he took out his Fonology book and kept himself occupied. To this, she found funny. Luke was like an easy read. He only opened that book because he was uncomfortable with doing nothing. That's what she thought.

The brunette bit her lip and felt uncomfortable herself.

"Hey."

She looked to her left to face Luke.

"Can I have my jacket back?"

She gave him a quick leer before throwing it back at him. Her skin was exposed, which forced her to hastily put on the rest of her clothes. First of all, she grabbed her dress shirt, buttoned it down, and then slid on her beige jacket and then buttoned it. Her comfort level rose in an instant by the time she tied her green ribbon into a neat bow. Her azure eyes glanced sideways with curiosity.

He was still looking at the book. She then looked over at Alex. He had his eyes skimming through the words so quickly that he made his way to the next page already. Tear knew about that book… and it wasn't a picture book. It was more like a four hundred paged book with tiny words.

The subway stopped. Through the little rectangular glass panels, she could see that the bustling crowd from earlier had dispersed. All three of them stood up in silence and packed their things to leave. Alex exited first and really disappeared from her view. Once she and Luke left the subway, they waited at the stop. It was like an underground parking lot… except with stairs heading down and I.D. slots. Well, maybe not, but it sort of smelled like it minus the usual smell of dirty car oil.

"Are we waiting… for the subway to the Abberian hallway?" Tear asked, her voice unexplainably soft for some reason.

"Yeah." Luke replied tersely. "Unless you want to walk there. It's on the other side."

She felt as if he was looking down at her. She hated it. They didn't talk at all in their next ride. This pathway had to pass underneath the gym and then it stopped midway at the Radessian halls. After that, they had to wait again to get on the next stop. For their second pathway, they would have to go underneath the Malkuth tower and then stop midway of the Abberian halls.

It felt as if it took forever, but the time was about ten or fifteen minutes to get there. As the two walked out of the Abberian stop, Tear asked, "Is there only _one _library?"

"There's three, actually." Luke stated.

She almost tripped on her own foot. "_Three?! _Why did we have to go so far?"

"Because," The redhead continued, his toned was rather irked, "the other two are under construction. One was damaged and closed while the other is being built."

"Oh…" Truth to be told, she had nothing else to say. The two of them walked up the stairs and used it instead of the elevator because it was much closer. Thanks to Luke, the library was easily found and located.

She stared intensely. The library door looked extremely expensive and nice. Both glass doors were fogged, but there were clear designs of lines and flowers adorned on it. The border was made out of fine oak that made an arc around the doors. Luke pushed the doors open and waited.

"Are you done yet?"

She snapped out of it. "Y-Yeah…" To think that she sort of owns this school too… It was amazing. How much money was used to paint this school and to replace the carpet? She would definitely pale if someone were to give her the numbers. Tear stalked behind Luke inside the library, and her face did pale.

It was like a university library. No no, more like a shopping plaza, except filled with books and bookshelves everywhere. It was so grand and… beautiful. There were even stairs to go up into the second level for _more _books. The rail laced around the perimeter of the second level that was overseeing the first level. Every few feet would be a stone or a marble column to support the lower ceiling.

It looked more like a _church_ because the high ceiling was like, forty feet up or something. Near the door they just entered was a large desk, filled with four librarians at their station. There were two sets of stairs across from where the librarians' desks were. One was used to go up while the other was to walk down. If one were to walk up the stairs and stand there, across them would be a large Clerestory window with beautiful spaced out designs to bring out light. It was as big as twenty feet on width and length, and is the main light source for the library. The desks were assorted like lunch tables; there were two sets on the left side of the stairs and the right. They were divided evenly, and were rather large. Most of them were filled with students, still in their uniforms, and they all seemed busy and occupied with something.

A sigh escaped from the side. "Are you sure you're Master Van's sister?"

She looked at him and then raised a brow. "Master… Van?"

He seemed to refuse to acknowledge her confusion and then rudely walked ahead. Luke slid on his backpack on both sides and then lazily beckoned Tear to follow with a flick of a hand from behind. The both of them had to walk around the line towards the stairs. She stared around as she walked up the stairs. It wasn't like her to be careless, but she was dazzled by the library's interior. The drop-down crystal chandeliers were not lit, but they sparkled with amorous beauty in the white light from the outside world. It was breathless.

"Hurry up!"

Tear shot an immediate glare at Luke. They were already at the second level. She hastily glanced away, "Sorry." She felt like she _had _to apologize to shut him up.

Mockingly, Luke chuckled a bit before he led her to the left side, where more desks were aligned next to the rails. Coincidently, there was only one empty table for them. They settled down on that table quickly to get started. It was about 3:20 already.

"Okay." Tear began after she sat down across from him, "How far are you in the project?" She had to put up some mental hearing barrier to block out the chatter that rose around them. She had this feeling that she and Luke might be the topic of conversation.

"Uhh… I'm kinda almost done."

She stared at him with a dead-serious expression. He was _lying._

Luke frowned and then pulled out four pieces of paper that was full of writing. "I'm not lying, see?!" He was clearly offended.

Tear calmly took the papers, straightened them out, and then skimmed through it. "The prompt is to explain about the essence of the elements and how it cooperates with the human body, right?"

"Uhh…" Luke expressed his confusion in flying colors. "Wait… how did you know the prompt?"

"I finished reading and analyzing it." Tear replied simply as she put the papers down. "I figured that that was the prompt because that was all your paper was talking about."

"Oh…"

Tear then pulled out her pencil bag and then took out her pencil. "You just have a bunch of simple and careless errors like grammar and such."

Luke's face lit up with a grin. "So it's okay right?" He sounded very eager and excited all of the sudden.

Tear let on a long silence. She leaned on her left arm as she erased a word with the back of her pencil and then replaced it. "Did you get help?" She questioned without even looking at him. The silence was the only response she needed.

Luke scratched the back of his head slowly. "Ah… well… Guy helped me out a bit and then Melissa helped me with the information."

"Though neither of them revised your essay?"

"…No. They were busy."

Tear then leaned on both of her arms. Her jaw line rested on the flat part of her fist. "This seems more like a research essay than a project."

"That's why I'm _kinda_ done!" Luke snapped all of the sudden. He then dug through his backpack (the Heavens knows if there's a black hole in there) and then pulled out a blank piece of paper. "I'm supposed to draw the human body and then how the fonons get in and all that stuff." As if he was told to do so, he opened up his Fonology book to a page that had the exact image he was talking about. "Like that."

"Is there a problem with drawing it?" Tear raised a brow. It seemed fairly simple. She had this trusting feeling that he wasn't _that _much of an idiot.

"Well…" Luke curled his lip, "I sort of don't understand. I don't get any of this stuff at all with all of the fonons and stuff… "

"It's so simple though!" Tear accidentally raised her voice to this. She just thought it was so easy to understand! "This subject is more like common sense to know."

"Pfft." Luke glanced away bitterly, "Then I guess I don't _have _common sense, huh?"

She didn't know what he was trying to achieve by saying that, but she went ahead and ignored it. "Here, I'll show you." She pulled the book a bit closer to her and then leaned forward. She pointed at the fonslots on the picture. "Everybody has these." She said bluntly.

"I _know_. I'm not _stupid._" Luke snapped haughtily.

"I'm really starting to doubt you."

"S-Shut up!"

"..."

Luke then eyed her and then frowned. The minute or two that passed by really got him rilled up the wall. "_Well_?! Are you going to help me out or what?"

"You told me to shut up."

Tear sighed. It wasn't working out. She had to give it up. "Okay." Her faith on him was running low as her doubts were flying sky-high. Luke was truly an idiot.

She then resumed and then explained about what fonons had to do with the human body and such. She was surprised that he asked so many questions. It gave her the feeling that he actually _wanted _to learn something. The whole time she thought he was just some spoiled, lazy and an arrogant punk that found a reason to dislike her. It felt like hours passed by with the two of them together. She just talked as he listened and asked questions. Though, at times, he would be distracted and would refuse to listen.

Finally, Luke had an outburst. "Can we have a break?!"

She stared at him with disapproval. He was like a little kid. To emphasize her meaning, he was more like a _rotten and an annoying_ little kid. "Fine."

It was like a ten or fifteen minute break. Luke pulled out some sort of book and then began writing in it. She was curious at first, but he looked like he was really trying to do something, and so she left him alone. She tried to keep herself occupied by reading through the Fonology book... but it was so boring. Plus, her curiosity was really getting high.

She just had to ask, "What are you doing?"

"None of your business." Came an automatic answer from Luke. He had the book on the edge of the table so she couldn't see.

The brunette abandoned the Fonology book and then stared at the book. "That can't be your diary, is it?"

To her surprise, Luke's cheeks flared. "H-How did you know that?"

She had to stifle a giggle after seeing his expression. "That was just a guess." She was surprised at herself that she managed to say that steadily.

The redhead grumbled in defeat as he laid the book on the table. Both pages were filled with his messy writing, written in black colored ink. "Yeah.... so what?" He uttered bitterly.

It wasn't like her to do this, but she leaned forward slightly and then rested her head on her arm. "Aren't diaries for girls?"

"It's not a _diary! _It's a _journal!_" Luke fell silent. He probably drowned in his embarrassment for a bit. She felt giddy towards his expression. They were _almost _even.

"It's not like I want to write in this stupid diary---I mean journal---anyway." His tone became slightly on the sadder note. "The doctor told me to write in a diary ever since I lost my memory."

Tear felt a ghostly silence that forced her to stay mute. She stared at him as he twitched a bit and then went back to writing. She felt a surge of sympathy and pity for him. "I'm... sorry."

Luke said nothing and continued on writing. After a few seconds, he closed the book and then looked at her with his emerald green eyes. For some reason, his gaze seemed a little different. "Okay, whatever! Let's resume."

The brunette relaxed her shoulders and then went right on with explaining right where they left off. She noticed that her tone was a little softer, rather than scornful. For sure, she thought it was just her imagination, but Luke seemed to... pay attention more.

"Understand?" Tear asked firmly as a confirmation before wrapping up the lesson. Honestly, she felt like she taught him as a teacher rather than a tutor.

Luke looked at her and then stared down at the book. "Y-Yeahh..." It was a simple phrase that was voiced out with uncertainty. Splendid.

The project completed and hopefully, the redhead learned something. If not, that hour or two could have been used on something else with less mental torture (for the both of them, of course). She was dubious about his progress and his mind capacity, but she wasn't asked to help him with that. The girl stood up and then packed up. Luke did the same and then stood up shortly after.

"Hey..."

She glanced at him with a raise of a brow. "Yes?"

The boy then dug his hand into his pocket and pulled out something rather familiar. She blinked and then blushed slightly. "Is this yours?"

"Yes..." She was rather hesitant to say so, but she really _wanted that back._ "Where did you find it?"

"I found it on the floor in Fonology class." Luke then handed it over to her. "I thought it was someone else's... I didn't think that you were that kind of person."

The faint blush on her cheeks was probably still there, but she shook it off. Because the eraser was cute, it was pricy. "Thanks..." She muttered softly. She then thought about it. If Luke didn't think that she was 'that' kind of person, why did he ask her in the first place?

"You're not lying are you?"

Curious of why that question was brought up, she stared at up. "Why would I?"

"Just making sure..." Luke relied swiftly as he really just shoved everything into his backpack. What goes on in his head can really be questioned...

He then glanced at his watch, "It's 5:20 now. A little passed ending time because of a _little_ something." Did he dare mean her? Tear frowned at that and then dropped off her eraser in her bag. "Let's get outta here. I hate this place."

Without another word, he turned around and began walking away from her. She stood in place, slightly confused. 'Let's' as in 'let us', in other words, 'he' and 'she'? _Together?!_ She thought he hated her! What was going on?

"Hurry up!" cried the impatient boy.

His toned ticked her off a bit, but she obeyed and then followed him without a complaint. Even at this time, it was rather crowded with people. Most of them gave them a glance, but she was getting used to it. A glance is a glance, and their thoughts are their private thoughts alone. She didn't bother anymore.

Just then, she noticed Cemore. He was by the entrance, leaning against the librarian's counter. He was talking with the female book collector who served as an aid with transferring books around.

"Janet! Hurry up!"

"Okay okay!" The girl then grinned at Cemore. "Bye bye now! I'll see you later~"

"Later, sweetie." He didn't seem to notice them because his view was still back at the girl.

She felt a little frustrated with his attitude. She disliked boys like him. Though, Luke didn't really seem to say anything and ignored it. She stalked behind him and did the same.

Suddenly, she heard a voice say, "...Heh... what a lucky puppy to be chasing after melons of that size."

The brunette had this _strange_ feeling that this term 'melons' meant something else... Frankly, she felt as if she was insulted. She shot back to see the blond haired male, Cemore, grinning at her. Luke didn't seem too happy when he turned around.

"Lukey-boy! You finally ditched Princess, huh? Though she won't be too happy about this..."

"Shut up!" Luke retorted with a small scowl. Though his hostility suddenly changed, "What are you doing here anyway?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing." Cemore replied simply as he moved his weight over to his other foot. His hands were dug in his pockets and his uniform was loosened up. His blue vest wasn't present, his dress shirt was buttoned down a bit, and his ribbon was tied around his left wrist. "What are you doing here with this kitten?"

Luke was silent for a bit. He then answered with a small grumble, "Tutoring..."

"Ah, Jade set this up huh?" Cemore chuckled as he ran his fingers through his blond hair. "Well, what a nice pick. She's a keeper, right Luke?"

Again, Luke responded with a, "Shut up!" and then glanced elsewhere for a second.

Tear felt as if she had no say in this conversation. She was very uncomfortable with Cemore's use of words. She can tolerate words until it gets into a specific chokehold. She managed. "We're leaving now." Tear announced. Then she turned around and aimed to do the same thing he did to her. As she thought, Luke ran with his tail between his legs after her. Heh.

"Haha, later you two! Don't do anything funny." She heard Cemore say. She didn't even bother saying anything back as she opened the door and walked out. Out they were, into the semi-quiet halls that were full of lurking students.

She was suddenly curious about Luke's outbursts and halts. Does he just like to tell people to shut up out of no where? It certainly seemed that way to her. "Which way are you going?"

Luke rubbed an eye and then bluntly replied, "I don't know."

That wasn't much of an answer. She sighed and then turned towards the direction where the stairs were and then began walking.

"Waait!"

To her surprise, Luke came after her. "What is it?"

It took him a few tries to think of what to say next (judging from his facial expression). He then finally said, "You really are related to Master Van, are you?"

"Why do you call him Master?" Tear felt that was an awkward title for her brother.

"Because... he's the greatest!" His face suddenly lit up. His eyes were twinkling and his chapped lips formed a smile. His fists were curled as he walked with her to the stairs. "He helped me with everything and is always there when I need him. He trained me to be become the _best_ in kendo and basketball! I can get all the things I want... and everything! He's like a great teacher and a mentor to me...!"

Tear twitched. He was yapping about her brother until they got back into the first floor. It made her question herself whether Van really did do that. This was all news to her. "For... how long?"

Luke fell silent for a second. "Ever since I lost my memory, he was always there. Seven years..."

Seven years... She honestly had no idea. Well, her ties were cut with Van and her grandfather for a long time. Van only visited recently before so he can get her in this school. Before she knew it, the two were already in the central plaza. It was around twilight and the sky was painted with a gradient of blue. Towards the Western skies was where the setting sun seeped behind the mountains. The strips of shaded clouds of orange and light purple streaked across the dome of the sky. On the Eastern skies was there a shade of soft blue, heading down the gradient of dark blue. There were stars peppered across the sky. Of course, it was much more visible towards the East, but much could not be seen with the buildings towering around them.

It was like they were at a park. There were quite a few trees and benches almost everywhere. She could still see the building on the other side, but nevertheless, the land in between is huge! It was so quiet and so serene. It made her smile for a second.

"Wow, it's a surprise to see this place so empty." Luke commented as he kicked a pebble off of the path. "I bet everyone is still out shopping and hanging and whatnot. No on wants to be here when it's the beginning of the year."

She didn't know what to say and really just listened to Nature's whisper. The crickets chirped as a bird swooped down low and hopped around the grass. There was no breeze, but the air did certainly feel fresh and revitalizing.

"Geez, I didn't know that you can calm down so quickly..." She heard Luke say.

The girl glanced over at him and then smirked slightly. "I should say the same for you. Just a moment ago, you were quite excited about talking about someone."

Luke was easily flustered. He pressed his lips and then glanced away from her. "..."

She was satisfied with that and really just stared at the wisps of clouds in the pinkish-purple side of the sky,

"You know... you should join Student Council, ASB."

"Eh?" Kristy and Anise were blabbering to her about joining earlier. Luke was asking her to join too?

She saw him frown again as he looked at the ground. "Yeah yeah, just go to the library tomorrow during lunch." He then muttered something else but she didn't catch it. "... I'm going to go do something. Bye." She merely blinked once and he was already off in a hurry. She was alone.

"Hehe... Master is quite a person, right?"

Tear literally jumped and then quickly turned a 360 to scan the area. She was a little freaked out to hear a random voice, and for some reason, it sounded oddly familiar. It was a high-pitched voice and it sounded... disturbingly cute. She swore that she heard that voice somewhere before. A few feet away from her, the bushes shuffled. She cautiously stepped back as it moved again. "W-Who's there?" She asked with a brave mask on.

It moved once more. It made her very uncertain. She would admit that she was a little scared, but she focused her attention to that moving bush. It wasn't Luke pulling her leg, right?

A head popped out.

She actually shrieked a bit in surprise. It was a good thing no one was really around...

It was a small head with two bunny-like ears of a blue creature. It had two gigantic blue orbs and blinked at her. Wait a second...

"T-T-The cheagle!" She gaped as she recalled that memory from a few days before. "...Mieu?"

"Mieu?" The creature responded as it tilted its head. "Mieu! Mieu mieu!" Then it took off. For some reason, she actually ran after it. What she was surprised at was... despite the cheagle's stubby legs, it actually got quite far and was fast.

"M-Mieu! Wait!" She literally ran across the whole plaza with Mieu zig-zagging in front of her. During the run, she heard voices; it was a familiar voice. She stopped for a second and then realized the second after that she lost Mieu! She turned all around in hopes to find the cheagle. She wanted to ask... it more questions. What about her bills...?

Suddenly, she was filled with confidence. 'A game of hide and seek... hm?' She felt pretty fired up with this diligence to find it. She supposed that Mieu would hide in the bushes, and so she crept over into this part where there were a bunch of bushes and trees. It was sort of hard to see through. It was all settled around this corner, possibly with the reason for shade. The brunette crouched down and glanced all around. It felt like she was in a jungle or something all of the sudden!

"...Here's our first time." She heard a female's voice say. Wait... _'Melissa?'_

"You've got to listen if you want to get over it." Melissa's voice continued.

Tear wanted to take a look and peek at whom she was talking too, but she felt as if she was stuck in that position. _'What's going on...?'_

"You think... this is okay?" It was a male's voice. Certainly, it was Guy's voice. What where the two doing alone...? Curiosity began to nibble on her brain.

"Don't worry, I won't go hard on you. I think you can do it... Feel it, unless you're too afraid." A soft laugh was heard from Melissa, "You know, girls are sensitive there."

"A-Ah... really?"

"Well... I think so... Haha, Guy, you're blushing! I thought you would be used to me showing some skin."

She widened her eyes as she listened. Were they doing what she thought they were doing?! No...! They couldn't! She knew that Melissa isn't that kind of person. Plus, she overheard Kristy and Melissa talking about her relationship with Guy. They are just friends! How could they...

"A-Ah... well... umm. I d-dunno if I can get used to this."

"Okay, I'll close my eyes. Go ahead."

"O-Okay..."

"W-W-_WAAIT_!" Tear cried as she actually sprang up. She caught the two... sitting on the bench at quite a distance from each other. Both of them were in their uniforms, except Melissa wasn't wearing her blue vest. The dress shirts for females are always sleeveless for the Malkuth uniforms. Guy's arm was stretched over towards Melissa's shoulder. They stared at her and then blinked.

"Hello Tear..." The auburn haired girl didn't seem to recover completely from surprise, but she was trying.

"Uh... hi." came a weak response from Guy.

Tear stood there with a blank expression. There was an awkward silence in the air. How... embarrassing...

"MIIEEEEEEEEUUUUU!!!" The blue thing darted across the scene and then disappeared between some more bushes.

Guy almost fell back from the bench and Melissa quickly stood up.

"W-Wha?! Why is Mieu out of the room?" The Senior cried as she stared at Guy.

"I dunno! We better put him back in before Luke finds out..."

"Good idea..." Melissa suddenly seemed a little more fretful than usual. "Tear...? Can you help us catch Mieu? He's really running all over the place."

Tear felt as if she was hit on the head with a brick. How did both of them know about Mieu? How did Luke know about Mieu? Who named Mieu... Mieu? All Mieu says is 'mieu'. 'It's like naming a frog, Ribbet.' She thought glumly. She then snapped out of her thoughts when Guy and Melissa went over to the bushes to check out the site. She went over and did the same, though she seemed to step in Guy's private bubble, causing him to literally fly backwards, three feet away.

Melissa sighed and then looked over at Tear with an apologetic smile. "Why don't we call out Mieu's name...? Sometimes he'd show up..."

She heard Guy sigh. "Hopefully Luke didn't find out yet..."

"Yeah..." Melissa laughed wryly.

Was Mieu really that close to Luke? It really made her wonder. He certainly did not seem like the animal-loving type of person. "M-Mieu? Where are you?" Tear raised her voice. Silence responded.

"Mieu...? I'll give you some apples if you come out!" Melissa shouted as she paced around and looked around bushes.

"Come on Mieu! Luke won't be too happy if you're gone..."

The three of them really just walked around that area and gradually went further every time. Unfortunately, they were not able to find him the first time.

"This isn't so good." Melissa bit her lip as she put her hands on her hips. Guy went off to look at another area while the girls were at another. "Ah... I can only think of one more thing..."

Tear was getting rather tired too. All of this started because of that... cheagle. It was getting rather dark too. She became a little uneasy and doubtful whether they would find him or not. "Huh? What is it?"

Melissa mused, "Well, for sure, Mieu loves hugs. He likes to cling to Luke, but he always pushes him away." She then suddenly eyed Tear with her sly violet eyes. She grinned. "Tear? Why don't you around and say 'hug?'."

She has never been confused so many times right after the other. "Hug?"

"Louder!"

"H-Hug?!"

"Come on, Tear! I know you got lungs!"

"H-HUG?!"

She then stared at Melissa. Her face was suddenly filled with glee. She began laughing, but for some reason, Tear didn't feel too embarrassed. "Walk around and say that. Be careful, okay? Don't worry, I'm going to be shouting that too." The Senior grinned, "If you find Mieu, just go ahead and give a shout or something. I'll go on the other side and excavate." Then she left.

Tear nodded slowly. It was getting stranger and stranger. Silence overcame her. No one was around. With all of her courage, she uttered, "H-Hug...?"

She paced around slowly and then glanced from side to side. It was dark, and suddenly, the serenity became... treacherous. There were a few lights, but the area she was in was pretty dark. She was always timid in the dark, and it began to surface. The brunette eyed around intensely as every step she advanced sent chills and a sensation down her spine. She was… slightly frightened being alone at night.

"Mieu...?" She squeaked. "H-Hug...?" She felt like a little sheep running in the wolf's forest. Rather than saying 'baah', she asked for a hug from a cheagle.

"H-Hug...?"

She yelped when she heard a noise. Then she felt something hit her. She nearly fell back as something sort of furry jump and run into her chest. Her arms automatically wrapped around it and cradled it. "E-Eh...?"

"Mieeuu!"

Tear blinked as she stared at the creature that nuzzled her in her arms. "Mieu, why were you here?" But he didn't respond in words. All he said was that repeated phrase, "Mieu!"

It made her dumbfounded. Perhaps she was imagining things that night? She swore it was this little cheagle. Even their names are the same.

"Tear!" It was a very distant call.

She turned around quickly and then searched around. It was hard to see through the heavy vegetation in this particular area. The dark shadows cast from the trees added a frightening feeling to accompany with the early moon. "Melissa?" She felt like a lost puppy all of the sudden. She then took a few attentive steps forward as an attempt to wander her way out from that area. It became still and silent. Even Mieu didn't say a word.

"_Boo._"

Tear shrieked as every part of her body shivered up in a split second. She turned around to meet two mischievous violet eyes and those lips that are always curved into a gentle smile. Her heart was literally beating out of her chest. "M-M-Melissa… you scared me…"

"I'm sorry…" She said with a timid and an ashamed expression, "I didn't mean to scare you like that."

"Miieuu!" Mieu chirped at the familiar face.

"Hello there little one." The auburn haired girl cooed, "Don't go out like that okay? Luke will surely throw a fit if he ever figures out."

Tear was slightly surprised. Well, Melissa had the outlook of a mother, and she can certainly speak like a gentle mother as well. It was that air of serenity and protectiveness that she gives out.

"How about we go home?" She continued after her pause.

The brunette gazed down to see Mieu refuse. He remained with Tear in his spot and didn't move.

"He really came to like you, just as I thought." Melissa chuckled with an air of mystery around her. 'Just as she thought'?

As hard as it was, Tear had to give Mieu up to Melissa. The cheagle squirmed a bit, but he gave in and sat obediently in the other girl's arms. She just noticed how… absolutely adorable Mieu looked. She couldn't tell the other times before because of the dark and such things like that, but now that she noticed… Her cheeks flushed pink.

_She could just eat him up._ …

"It's getting late Tear," Melissa moved to the side a bit to ready her leave, "You should go back and sleep. The Night Patrol might catch you if you don't stay on curfew."

Tear snapped out from her pink and bubbly imagination. "Ah… yes." She folded her arms and then moved her gaze from Mieu's gigantic eyes to Melissa's. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow. Tell Guy I said goodbye."

A soft giggle escaped from Melissa, "Yes. Good night."

"Mieuu…" Mieu whined sadly. Its large orbs drooped at her.

There they parted. She felt rather empty to just fork Mieu over right there. Thinking it over again, she wondered why she chased him like that. _'It must have been because of that night…' _

She knew it was he; it was Mieu, the very same Mieu that helped her make a decision. It was that magical being that made her consider about coming into this school. _'I will meet the man of my life, huh?'_

As she recalled Mieu's utters, she frowned. She never really believed in love. She thought that it was just some chemical reaction that renders a person to such a piteous state. Despite that, she realized that she only came because of that phrase. She was curious if… she can fall in love at all. At naïve as it sounded, she trusted Mieu's words.

She wanted to meet this so-called 'man of her life'.

The girl walked alone. There were still people wandering around, but none of them really paid attention to her. She mused during her whole trip all around. In the subway, she just sat in her own and thought. As she walked down the Radessian halls, she just pondered. Finally, in front of her dorm room, she sighed. It was mind bottling. She regretted perusing Mieu and even meeting him again! Their meeting just made her fall into more tangles of trouble and thought.

Tear tiredly slid her I.D. card in and then opened the door. Anise was on her top bunk, but surprisingly, Kristy was there also. She had a feeling that something was going to come up.

'_1…2…3…'_

"O M G. HI TEARR!"

"HIIII TEAAARR!"

"Why'd you come so late, huh?"

"Did you go out to have some fun?"

"Didja?"

"DIDJA?!"

Tear was cranky. Her lips actually became a slightly irritated frown as she stared at them blankly. She couldn't even tell who was who because both of them were equally _loud._

"Not really." She finally responded as she moved her arm away from the door. It closed automatically, and so she continued to her bed. She really just threw her bag on her bed and then heavily sat down on it. She sighed again.

"What's up Tear?" Kristy's voice asked. Tear turned around to see the blond leaning on the rail. She was still in her uniform, except without the blue vest, like Melissa. "You look really really tired…"

"I kind of am." She admitted softly.

"Oh…" Anise placed a hand over her mouth, "Sorry…" She whispered with a weak grin.

"That's okay." Tear muttered as she took her jacket off and pulled off her boots. "Kristy, why aren't you in your dorm?"

"Well…" Kristy uttered timidly, she sounded as if she was a little offended. "I just came to visit Anise, that's all. Sorry that we were loud."

"Yeah… sorry."

Tear looked at them again and then grinned. "That's okay."

For some reason, the two found that… exciting. They looked at each other and then smiled at each other. To this, Tear raised a brow.

"Are you going to sleep now Tear?" Anise questioned as she hopped out of bed. The black haired girl had her hair down and was in her pink panda pajamas. That doll… lion… cat thing was also in her hands.

"I think so." After saying that, Tear unconsciously yawned. The two giggled at her.

"Okay then!" Kristy then climbed down the ladder first. Following her came Anise. "We're going to go out and prank someone."

"_Gloomietta!_" Anise snickered, her laughter full of this threatening malice.

If Tear weren't exhausted at that moment, she would have stopped them. "Have fun." She stated nonchalantly. There was this feeling that she would have to apologize to this person _for _them.

"Bye bye now!"

"Byee Tear!"

With that, the two left, leaving her in peace and quiet. The brunette grinned dreamily and then fell back. Her head hit the pillow and cushioned her fall. It felt so nice to just relax. The whole day was like… so… long. She was so exhausted and figured that she should do some light activity the next day. Slowly, she moved her blanket over to her shoulders and then turned over to the side. Her eyes closed.

Tomorrow… she'll straighten things out…

…

Kristy and Anise giggled as they tiptoed down the halls.

"Didja call him?" Kristy whispered to Anise as she covered her mouth with glee.

"_YEP! _I called him and he is coming to Tear's room _tonight._" Anise replied with a tone that oozed of a sweet honey that can poison minds.

Kristy snickered. "Oh, Lukie is going to _love _this."

Suddenly Anise moved her attention elsewhere. "Uh… yeah! Mhm!" Her tone was definitely deceiving.

"So," The blond continued as they walked down the halls, further away from the room where Tear slept, "how did Luke figure out how to enter? Only Cemore knows how to do that."

"Yeah! I made Cemore tell Luke his secrets." Anise responded in a manner-of-factly tone. "Cool huh? Now they're definitely going to have some fun times."

"Fun times…" Kristy winked at Anise.

"_Fun times._" Anise replied with a smirk. The two girls giggled, but one can define their laughter as a 'cackle', a cackle from two demons.

A boy did appear in front of Tear's room. That very boy opened the door. He entered in quietly and held onto the doorknob so it can close silently. The room was dark and was silent. Tear was sleeping soundly on her bed.

The boy approached the bed… and then Tear awoke and screamed.

She screamed…

**Luke:** ...

**CCP:** ...

**Luke:** ...

**CCP:** ...?

**Luke:** ..._WHAT_?!

**CCP:** Yeah Luke, shut up. BAD. BAD BAD BAD.

**Luke:** ..._ *_doesn't feel like doing his job* ._.

**CCP:** Luke you lazy bum. Okay... enter the magnificent Guy!

**Guy:** Uhh...

**CCP:** DO IT.

**Guy:** Uhmm... uhhh... Thanks? Yeah.

**CCP:** *takes out whip* DO IT.

**Guy:** O.o... Ahrm... Well, t-t-t-thanks everyone for reading! Yeah. Review and all of that. Please...? Damn... I'm disappointed in you Luke.

**Luke:** Shut up ; ;

**CCP:** Bwahaha. Yes! Sorry to end on cliffhangers again. It's just funny to hear Luke go crazy.

**Guy:** This is why women scare me...

**CCP:** QUIET YOU. :'D jk i love you all.


	7. The Wicked Witch

**CCP:** I'M SOORRY GUYS. ; ; I know it took too long! I apologize again blaaaahh. You guys should say 'THANK YOU CHIPP' for nudging and screaming at me to continue. I really do want to continue this! I HAVE NO OTHER EXCUUSES!!

**Note:** Sorry but I won't accept original characters for now.

Remday, Lunaday, Ifritday, **Undineday**, Sylphday, Loreleiday, Gnomeday

[Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, **Wednesday**, Thursday, Friday, Saturday]

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Tales of the abyss, but I do own my original characters.

**Chapter 7-The Wicked Witch**

Tear had not a clue who entered her room. As self-defense, she quickly maneuvered her arm and then hastily threw her pillow as if it was a shurkin at this figure. A male's groan was heard. So she was right: it was a male intruder. She became extremely frightened, but she quickly calmed herself and jumped out of the bed and ran towards the lights switch by the door. She figured that she was going to run out the door after seeing the face of this intruder.

The lights went on, illuminating the abyss. The whole room lit up and revealed every object that hid underneath Shadow's cloak.

There stood her intruder, a blond male who had his arms in his pockets. His sight caught her by surprise. It was no one else but Cemore! She could not utter any words at that moment and merely blinked about twenty times. There he was, dressed up to down like how he did in the library.

Tear gaped in utter disbelief. _How the hell did he get into her room?! _She thought that it was _impossible_ to infiltrate into the girl's dorm. How could _he_ crack in such advanced technology? It was one of those moments in time where time just froze a bit because of disbelief. Sometimes, the awkward reality does not process correctly into her brain. Frozen with disbelief, she was. Stricken with anger, she was later.

An awkward silence drifted into their presence. Tear was still positioned by the light switched with her finger still pressed against it. Cemore merely stared back at her, his golden eyes with a spark of interest. He smiled.

"Nice to see you too." A male said simply.

Tear felt her face burn red. She wasn't sure whether she was _incredibly_ mad or _incredibly _embarrassed. "W-What are you doing here?!' She asked sharply. Her eyes glowed like blue frames. Indeed, she was not happy with Cemore's sudden arrival. Hell, she didn't even want to see him in the first place.

Cemore winced and then covered an ear. "Geez… you know you really have some lungs there."

"_Why are you here?_" Tear repeated again. The words she uttered dripped with a bloodthirsty and a menacing sense that was mixed into her deadpan monotone voice. She was not aware that her once serene azure eyes became chilled into piercing blue ice.

The boy twitched and then took an uneasy step back. "Okay, cool down, Ice Queen… if that's possible." His words apparently made no affect on her. He sighed lightly and then continued, "Okay, I didn't know this is _your _room too."

That sentence made her ponder. It should not have been a matter of coincidence. If he was not looking for her, then there was honestly only one logical and obvious explanation. "Were you looking for Anise?" She asked steadily and coolly.

Cemore ran his fingers through his blond hair, "Well, she told me to go inside her room and meet her for something. I didn't know that you are in here." He stiffened up when Tear gave him a rather suspicious look. Under her expression, was this warm sense of triumph. That playboy of the school is actually _afraid_ of her. She wondered whether anyone would believe her at all.

"Come on now, Frosty. I wouldn't do anything to you or else I'll be scored by Luke."

Tear did not really enjoy her nickname diverged from ice---come on, Frosty?---but she ignored that for now. Though, she was quizzical about how Luke came into this discussion. "Luke…?"

To that, Cemore simpered. "Yeah? That's right. The spoiled kid gets whatever he wants. I'm guessing he has hots for you."

Tear shot a dubious glare at him. Why did he use such an improper tone to her? Since she lived in a department around some goons, she understood exactly what he meant. Silence remained on her lips.

"I'm serious." He continued in a matter-of-factly tone. He smiled, "He's no softy to girls, but it looks like you're tolerating. He's only sorta close to Melissa and Natalia, but it doesn't mean anything."

The brunette raised a brow as she slowly walked away from the light switch and then leaned against the wall across from it. "Why… are you telling me this?"

"Just thought that you might want to know." He winked as he flashed his brilliant smile again. "'Sides, you might have a chance. He's a really tragic kid, seriously. All he needs is someone to talk to."

Tear relaxed for a moment and then mused. She already sympathizes Luke after hearing about his condition. Perhaps she should be a bit nicer to him…

"Are you thinking about something, darling?"

She snapped out of her thoughts and then stared at him.

He laughed again and then took a second to study Tear in a second. She was in her tank top and in shorts. "Well, now that we're alone, why don't we do something fun together? By the looks of it, you're on the right track so far.

Tear stared at him blankly. "…"

It was only thirty seconds, and the male intruder had his ass on the floor outside of her room. She put the cherry on top by slamming the door shut.

"Ahhgh! Damn…. My ass hurts..." She heard Cemore mutter loudly outside. Then, she heard a series of inaudible words, and then quick footsteps followed up. As it distanced, it became more serene. Finally.

Her back faced against the door. She bit her lip. She did not understand why the topic about Luke kept on coming up. It was really bothering her. To be honest, she only thought of Luke as some guy who needs a lot of help. Hence, a _lot of help._ Of course, she's willing to help. Not only because she gets a grade on this, had she also thought of it as a charitable virtue. She had no problem with helping, but she figured that same days might be unpleasant due to Luke's boisterous behavior.

The brunette sighed, shut off the lights, and then walked over to her bed. She wondered whether Anise will return that night, but she figured that she knew her way around. After she lay on her bed, she stared at the ceiling. She almost didn't want to see tomorrow.

Hesitantly, her eyes closed. Her senses were still keen, for she was still uncomfortable due to Cemore's unexpected visit. Somehow, she was able to sleep because on this one on-going image…

There were cheagles… jumping over fences…

….

"_ARGHHH!_"

That familiar loud grunt of dismay hinted that morning came. She opened her eyes warily and then stared at the ceiling. Anise, on the upper level, groaned again.

"Why is the alarm so loud…?!" She heard the girl shriek in misery.

To be frank, Tear woke up to Anise's groaning, not to the alarm. She blinked heavily and then sighed. Even after the sleep, she still felt the fatigue. Her hair was a mess, brown and tangled. She attempted to straighten it out by running her long fingers through her locks, but her fingers became stuck. Frustrated, she forcefully yanked her hair down and then gritted her teeth to the sharp pain.

As she did that, Anise was mumbling more nonsense.

Maybe it wasn't a good day for her, but she felt extremely pissed off. The hair over her eye gave her a more menacing appearance, and so was her witch-tangled hair.

"Anise? Can you quiet down?" The brunette raised her voice sharply.

Anise then walked down the stepladder and then glanced over. Apparently, both girls have the worst of bed heads. At least Tear's appeared more tamed. She cocked her head and then grinned deviously, "Hiya Tear! You look kinda scary this morning. Did anything happen?"

All of the sudden, she felt this great feeling of disdain from hearing Anise's voice. Whether the Sophomore did it on purpose or not, Tear was still extremely annoyed that she would even try and pull off such a trick! She supposed that it would do less harm if she were to just ignore her. "No." She replied bluntly.

She got off of bed and then slowly made her way to the bathroom. Like yesterday, she washed away her drowsiness and did her best to pamper herself. She stared intensely in the mirror.

She looked terrible. Heinous. A complete mess. There were many instances where she should cut her hair shorter and then donate her long locks, but then again, she likes her long hair. She would never think about chopping it off, but perhaps a trim would do. Her split ends go from double spits… to triple! Yesterday, Tear noticed how nice and well pampered everyone else's hair is. Yet she is still stuck with hair from the slums.

She sighed and then brushed off her thoughts and resumed brushing her hair. During the timeframe of five minutes, she was dressed up and ready to go with her bag around her shoulder. As she made her way to the door, she turned around to see Anise.

"W-Waaait! Lemme go with you!" She cried as she struggled with slipping on her shoe. She hoped a few steps forward, and once the shoe was on, she then stood with a grin. "Well Tear? Ya know where you're going?"

"No." The brunette answered, her tone tinged ice.

"_Uwah… scary…_" Tear vaguely heard Anise murmur as she took a timid step back.

"Ahaha… Umm…" She then widened her eyes and then placed a finger on her cheek. Anise attempted to throw her older off by smiling sweetly. "Hehe… sorry about last night. I thought you'd get some help from him." Before the Tear can interrupt her, the black haired girl went on.

"Anyway! We should go find the others."

Tear isn't the kind of person who holds grudges to the extreme, but she did understand that Anise's apology is a long shot attempt of an actual apology, but at least she tried. Still, her simple words did not eradicate her annoyance completely. "Okay then. Are you ready?"

Anise was ready, of course. She should not have asked. The girl grinned and then pointed at the door in a strange matter, "Okay okay! Let's go, let's go!"

Weakly, she tried to catch up with Anise's sudden haste and followed her out down the corridor hall. It is day two, and she still didn't get the hang of things. To be a little productive, she glanced around, hopefully to memorize her surroundings so she wouldn't have someone to always lead her in.

She pondered about Mieu ever since yesterday night. She wondered about his existence and whether she was really hallucinating on that day. It bothered her, and worse, it puzzled her. Just then, she realized that Anise is in Student Council, and judging from Melissa and Guy's words, Mieu must be some sort of a mascot, or something.

The girl was walking in a somewhat careless manner. Her arm movement was exaggerated every time she took an irregularly large step. It was not like a huge step, but it is sort of different compared to Tear's small and 'normal' steps.

"Anise?" Her call made Anise pause.

She turned around, her large brown orbs at her, "Yeah?"

Tear wanted to be blunt. With a stoic expression on her face, she questioned, "Why did you make Cemore come in?"

Anise's initial reaction sounded something like a 'pfffft!'. "Gee, you're still thinking about it? You know I didn't tell Cemore to do anything bad, honest! He may look like that kind of guy, but he's a wimp! I swear!"

An awkward silence formed between her and the dark haired girl. "Ah…" That response was not really an answer to her previous question. Though, the last part did strike her interest. "A wimp, you say?"

The Sophomore giggled and then winked at Tear. She then gestured the brunette to keep on moving. "Yeah, kind of. I mean he's all tough and cool on the outside, but he's mush and a total push-over to Kristy. He has a really bad sister-complex, just like Peony. Good thing is that Kristy doesn't take advantage of it because she's so cool! Don't you agree?"

The brown haired girl nodded weakly. No wonder why Anise and Kristy are so close; they can talk nonstop. Of course, she did not want to be rude and smiled an unresponsive grin. Frankly, what else was she supposed to say in this situation? In this conversation, she was cornered. No hope.

"See, I've heard lots of stuff. Lots of _rumors_ you see?" An evil glint sparkled on the girl's innocent face. Oh the irony. "I thought Cemore could help you out you know, since he's like the only one who can enter the girl's dorm without getting whipped for it. No I think they are a few… and Jade watches Peony now… she he can't really do anything…"

"They are siblings, right?" Tear asked, regarding Peony and Cemore.

"Yeah! Can't you see? They're like, the same! The grin they give and the flirting. Only Kristy is different and usually she gives them a sense of her mind. Meh… Enough talk, I'm getting thirsty. Does that satisfy you, Tear?" She chimed in a sing-song voice. Her chocolate eyes appeared so sweet that it melted her for a second.

"Um. Yeah." Though, that explanation was full of holes. _What_ rumors? Ugh. She had a hunch that if she asks more questions, Anise will just trail off on the topic and talk about a bunch of random things. She couldn't decide who is worse: Anise or Kristy? Well… at least Anise knows when to stop.

A strange feeling formed in her head. She instinctively looked at Anise, who appeared to be staring at her the whole time.

"You know what else…?"

'_I stand corrected.'_ Tear thought numbly. "What is it?" The brunette asked as the two of them entered the elevator. Silence again…

"Well… actually…"

_Ding!_

Anise paused and then moved her attention over at the elevator doors that began to slide open. She carelessly shrugged, "Oh well, tell ya later!"

Tear stalked the girl out of the elevator and then grimaced to the side. Her curiosity irked her. She exhaled and really just followed Anise mindlessly. The girl had no idea where she was going, but as long as the back of Anise's head is still in front of her view, she figured she wouldn't get lost. Really, she was already getting tired of the school.

The long, crowded halls, the expensive gear, and the extravagant unnecessary things were really overwhelming her. Again, she found it hard to believe that everything belongs to _her brother._ So technically, everything she sees is owned under her last name. Of course, she attracted a lot of attention. People glanced at her and started waving 'hi' to her as she followed Anise. All of their smiles---their fake smiles made her insides twitch.

She felt as if she saw right through them and their false pretense. Once before, someone told her that she is a stubborn person, because damn right, she knew she is a stubborn person. Her trust isn't easy to get, and because of that, she gave everyone the cold shoulder. A simple glance away, she gave them. Simply put: a refusal to acknowledge them.

Before her conscious was aware of it, she was already out in the quad or the Central Plaza. Out again to recognize the trees that she was lost in last night. She became embarrassed at herself that she wandered and panicked here because the morning made everything look so normal and lively. She wondered, _'Why was I afraid?' _ A semi-frown pursed on her lips. She thought she should gather more confidence. It is a flaw in her to be easily frightened. Those drop-down spider toys would _always_ get her during Halloween.

"Kristy!!" She heard Anise suddenly say.

"_ANIISEE_!" a voice exclaimed. As swift as light, the blond haired girl darted across grass to hug the dark haired girl. "And Tear!" Kristy moved on to tightly hug the brunette. Tear blinked, startled, but then she relaxed and smiled. But she didn't return the hug; she just stood there until Kristy released her.

Melissa approached, with a placid smile of course. "Good morning." She waved, completely having no hint of hugging her. It would be a little awkward. Tear wanted to think that she never hugged anyone. She could have been delusional, yes, but it was safe to say that she doesn't know how to 'hug' or how to react to it.

"Morning Melissa!" chirped Anise with a huge grin plastered on her cute lips. "Heya… where's everyone else?"

"Her Highness Natalia is fulfilling her duties as President in the SCR. Guy is out prancing with Luke somewhere. Who knows where they went." Kristy shrugged carelessly.

"Do you still think they're gay Kristy?" Anise giggled girlishly.

"PFF! OF COURSE! Guy is gay. To his rabid fangirls, I'd say, 'Guy, take you 'u' and you put in 'a' male and he's gay! But you know I love that guy to death and---:"

"He's _not _gay." Melissa said sharply with a slightly frightening face.

Kristy laughed nervously, showing signs of weakness. "Yeah well, you know I'm joking and making fun of it! It's just one big rumor in this school. They're practically celebs like us 'cause we're in SC." Then Anise started guffawing as loud as she could.

Tear paled. What in the world was that?! Kristy was just sputtering strange things about Guy's orientation and then Melissa brought out that dictator's tone. To heavens, these two should be reckoned with, she thought. Fighting mentally to ignore what Kristy said, she questioned, "What is 'SCR'?"

"S-Student Council Room." Anise muttered between her giggle fits with Kristy. Once she calmed down she exhaled, "Sorry, yeah, SC is Student Council. You know what? That reminded me that you should _totally_ join."

"_Totally._" Kristy nodded with a smile to emphasize.

"Er…"

Melissa grimaced at the two, "Well Kristy you probably scared her about that rumors that we get."

"The rumors _Guy_ and _Luke_ gets!" The blond girl then trailed off, "Well it's true that we all have… a lot of rumors on our shoulders."

"But since they're not true, who cares!" Anise flailed her arms um with an extremely frustrated expression. "You know if I hear another rumor 'bout me and Sync or whatever, I'm totally going to beat them up! ARGH it's so annoying! I _hate_ that jerk!"

Both girls then stared to converse to each other madly as they fumed on the topic about their rumors. Melissa looked over at Tear apologetically and somehow dragged her away from the talking duo. "Sorry. They like to talk a lot."

'_I noticed'. _Tear thought with a meek grin. Her blue gaze focused on the figure approaching behind Melissa. She peeked away from the auburn haired Senior and stared at the redhead with emerald green eyes wearing the Kimlascan uniform. "L-Luke?"

Was it really him? He certainly looked very strange as if he ate something sour. His eyebrows were knitted down and his lips were firmly pursed into a frown. His face glowed off negative energy. When she first looked at him, she already felt as if her morning was a bad one. Trailing behind 'Luke' was a familiar-looking white haired boy with bright brown eyes. He seemed extremely excited about something.

Melissa turned to see who Tear was looking at. "Hello Asch."

Tear was suddenly very perplexed. Why did she call Luke 'Asch'? The pieces fit instantly. So _this _is the person Kristy was talking about the other day.

_"---They almost look alike too! Geez like, long lost brothers, like seriously."_

Good, she thought. It would be surprising if Luke can frown like this. No, actually it would be _frightening._

Asch did not really reply to Melissa. He merely glanced at her, acknowledging her sweet smile, and then grimaced off.

"HI MELISSA!" The white haired boy exploded with this sun shining disposition. He waved at them as if he was a hyper little kid in a candy store. "Hi Kristy, Hi Anise, and---uhh. T-Tear was it?"

The chit-chat girls stopped immediately and then beamed at the brighter one in the two (hint: it's _not_ Asch).

"Hi Ginji!"

"Hey Ginji!"

Tear shrugged her shoulders up and then nodded weakly. "Yes. Hello…"

Ginji waved back with a peachy cute grin on his face while Asch scowled and continued to be the sour-puss on the scene. Tear swore the redhead glanced at her---or did he leer at her?

"You're wasting my time. Let's go." Asch _commanded_ in a voice that almost sounded like a growl. Ginji was completely impervious to Asch and then nodded. "Okay, let's go. Bye guys!"

And then the two walked off, except Ginji appeared to have happiness sparkling around him in contrast to Asch's sulky aura. The morning just gets _weirder and weirder. _"Ah…" Just then everyone decided to not say anything. It felt as if the whole quad muted itself, just to add in the mood. The rebels were a couple of birds that chirped overhead.

"And _thaat _was Asch!" Kristy broke the silence with a loud exclamation. "Luke's arch rival of course with an opposing personality!" She moved next to Tear.

Anise leaned over on the brunette as well, sandwiching her. "Wasn't that _scary_? You just met Luke's boring and creepy twin."

"Did it send chills down your spine?"

"Did his face make you want to frown too?"

"Does he make you want to hide?"

"Doesn't his face look make him seem constipated?"

"W-What the hell Anise?" Kristy then started laughing like mad.

Anise snickered, "I think both of them are pretty cute. Asch has this bad-boy side that we can't resist . Personally I think Luke has bigger---"

Melissa drew in a breath and then exhaled softly. "_Okay_, let's calm down now."

"Bigger _wallets_! Geez Melissa what were you thinking?" The younger girl comically puffed up her cheeks as Kristy laughed until tears were in her eyes. Tear stood in silence. She listened to the girls and absorbed everything in. Why? She felt like she was petrified with something. Such behavior… it appeared so strange to her. A sign of life pierced through her dead smile was a short laugh.

"I _mean_," Melissa continued, emphasizing her word with a tone of superiority, "we should get to class. Especially Tear since Mr. Curtiss is her first period teacher."

"_Oooh_, Jade." Kristy crooned as she nodded. Anise agreed and mimicked her action.

"Right you should get going. He likes to torture people and he's real finicky about everything."

"He's just strict on tardies. Other than that, he's cool."

Tear could not agree on Anise more. Jade---Mr. Curtiss definitely has a sweet spot for inflicting misery on people---or that was what she heard. She doesn't know about him being 'cool' though. It's only her first day, and she'll probably decide on his 'coolness' later.

Kristy stated, "Let's split. I have class with Mr. Frings on the second level. I should hurry."

"'Kay! Sorry Tear but my first period is far away from yours. I can't walk you to your class." Anise's large brown orbs suddenly became so sickly cute and innocent. Tear responded with a short laugh.

"That's alright."

"Well you know your way, right Tear?" asked Melissa with a raise of a brow.

The brunette nodded as a reply. "I know my way." She hoped that she did because she hated relying on other people. Besides, she remembered a bunch of streets and shortcuts when she was living on her own, she couldn't see a problem with anything getting in the way of remembering her classes.

"Well alright. Have fun Tear!"

Everyone went on their own direction and walked off. Tear just walked diagonal from her spot to get to the Radessian halls where the room '666' awaits. Ugh, it gives her chills every time. Mumbling in her mind were her uneasy thoughts. Her footsteps were very faint compared to the loud noise around her. Everyone chattered and laugh as they spoke while she just mutely walked by them. She felt very conscious of herself in this environment---in this environment owned by her brother. On some occasions, before she accepted to enter this school, she would wonder why Van would want her to come. This school isn't the _best_ school ever; it is only luxurious in taste. He knew that Tear has a slight shade of disdain for him.

He knew that she hates him on some circumstances. She tried to make sure he got her message. It seems that Brother is forgiving and kind. Despite it all, she can't fight off that under-lying admiration for Van. Stubborn, right?

She sat on her seat. The first period bell rang precisely on time. Her eyes became slightly abrasive after seeing Cemore flash a quirk at her. She simply ignored him.

Mr. Curtiss stood in front of the class with an uncanny grin on his face. In other words, he seemed pleased to the slightest---but no one is really sure. "Well happy Undineday everyone. How about a pop quiz?"

"Darnit." A boy muttered.

"Aww…" Another girl groaned.

The man sighed as he pushed up his glasses, "That was only a question. Since these two responded so _excitedly_. It looks like you're all begging for a pop quiz."

"Nice going, _guys_." Tear heard one of her classmates say to the two who complained.

The brunette grimaced over at the one who spoke and then frowned. She wondered why she was feeling so down or sour. Perhaps it was Asch's face that spoiled her morning---she just _had_ to think that _that_ is the reason to cheer her up a bit. Her azure eyes laid on the quiz in front of her and kept her mind occupied for the time being. And so the first period went by. Lecture after lecture, talk talk talk. She noticed Cemore look over her way again and she didn't hesitant to ignore him. Her fingers unconsciously twirled her pink eraser in her hand.

Mr. Curtiss goes on with his clever comments and makes fun of particular students. Thank heavens he didn't mention her during class.

Suddenly she lost a lot of interest in everything. Literally, she fell out of sync. The bell rang and then there goes first period. Five minutes, then second period, in other words, the first period she sees Luke. She walked over to her second period class, alone of course. There were plenty of people who would probably want to walk her, but she shut herself. She shut them down.

The pattern goes with her sitting down in class and the bell rang a few minutes after. Everyone was in class except for Luke, though she somehow found it not surprising.

"Well… It looks like Luke is tardy again." The aged man, Mr. Ingobert, spoke with a soft sigh. "Natalia have you seen him?"

"No I haven't, father." The blond haired girl responded, her eyes were piercing green and it had a certain flare to it. Just then, she sharply glanced over at Tear and then looked off. The brunette blinked and then lowered her head slightly. That almost looked like a disapproving _glare. _

"Ah well." There was silence until…

Suddenly the door opened. "Heeey! I'm here, I'm here!" The redhead exclaimed loudly as he hastily stepped in. His loose attire was hard to miss---even if he is wearing a uniform. His ribbon wasn't even tied properly. It irked her.

"Luke, this is your fourth time---"

"Sorry uncle. Uh, I had to use the bathroom."

"You had five minutes."

"Well there was a long line! Anyway can I sit down?"

Mr. Ingobert sighed deeply and then stared at Luke with his hawk-looking eyes. Like father like daughter… "You _may_ sit down."

"Same thing…" Luke muttered to himself as he made his way over to the empty desk next to Tear. He carelessly let his backpack drop near his desk, pulled his pants a little higher up, and then sat down. Tear winced; she swore he saw something pink before Luke pulled up his pants.

…_Pink boxers?!_

Luke looked at her and then grinned, but she returned it with a stoic purse of her lips. She then retreated her gaze elsewhere and tried to not think too heavily about Luke's questionable choice of color for his undergarments.

In the corner of her eye… she saw Natalia look at her again. The fair girl's deep green eyes were hardened to an intense stare. There was a frown that blemished her perfect face. Then, all of the sudden, Natalia glanced away again and paid attention to her father---the teacher. Tear felt the chills, but naturally didn't show it. She felt a little uneasy again. Did she do something wrong to make the President of SC… not like her?

Class came and went, just like regular; grammar, writing, reading, and all of that. She and Luke were able to talk a bit because he forgot his literature book. They shared books. He was a little persistent with getting into a conversation, but Tear is talented at giving out one-liners. So conversing didn't end up so well after he noticed it. He muted himself as well. Everything was really driving her nuts…

Second period was over. She left Luke with a small wave. Third period was approaching and went by just as quickly. Tear realized that she became the teacher's pet in that class and did several examples for singing. Then fourth period…

Tear took the subway to get to her class (she _still_ needs to get used to the idea of taking a 'subway' to get to a class!!) and went inside the gym with her school uniform. She didn't _like_ the school uniform at all because it showed off so much… leg! The dark blue shorts are like… not shorts. They're _underwear. _Well the term for it is a 'buruma' and the shirt is just a tight-fitting white shirt. In the girl's locker room, Miss Cantabile just started explaining about the lockers and how everyone should lock their things before going. She also mentioned what to do if there are males lingering around. ("You kick their tiny little ass out of the locker room. Yes, you're allowed to do that.")

Tear smiled the whole time. She liked Miss Cantabile, she is a really nice woman. Everyone dispersed and chose their own lockers. She coupled with Kristy and found lockers adjacent to each other. The lockers were pretty long and stretched all the way down, unlike her book locker. The girls around her were all busy with changing their close, and the chattering was pretty loud too. She then meekly said, "Kristy?"

"Hrmm?" The blond asked as she tried to figure out her own lock (she apparently just forgot).

The brunette took a seat on the wooden bench. "I saw Melissa here yesterday. Is she still in this period for P.E.?"

"Oh!" Kristy then opened her locker and then beamed at it. She chuckled, "Uhm! Melissa should be here. I didn't see her, but she's probably somewhere---"

"Oh you guys saved me a locker?"

The two looked up and the blond one cried, "Meli~! We thought you died!"

"Oh, ha-ha." Melissa replied sarcastically with a firm smile on her pretty lips. She opened the locker next to Kristy's and then hung her bag inside. "Why aren't you guys dressed yet? We have only ten minutes."

"I don't feel like doing _anything!_ She'll go easy on us right?_"_

"Nope." Replied Melissa as she unbuttoned her vest.

Kristy grumbled and then mimicked the auburn haired Senior. Since Tear's uniform is different, she first had to unbutton her coat and then her blouse inside.

While they were changing Kristy said, "Gosh, I'm jealous of you two…"

"Did you say something?" Melissa questioned as she focused on brushing her hair as she stared in the mirror on the door of her locker.

"No…"

Tear became timidly self-conscious again. The shirt was tight, but it wasn't uncomfortable tight. The thing that bothered her was that they… _bulge_ out. They really do!

"Ah! Tear your legs are so _slender_." Kristy teased as she put on the buruma. "The boys will go wild. I swear."

The brunette blinked furiously, "E-E-Ehh?!"

"Just wait until we all start running, and all eyes will be on you!"

"Oh stop it Kristy." Melissa added in a playful tone. Something told Tear that her senior didn't really mean her words… A sweet scent of honeydew filled the air.

"Oh yeah…! If you run with Melissa at the same speed, _then_ all eyes will be on you two!"

Melissa hastily finished up rubbing lotion on her legs, "Times almost up, let's go!"

"Okay, okay!"

Tear silently locked her locker and then hurried after the two. Everyone, all uniformed in the same attire, bundled by the door and slowly dispersed into the gym. From the distance, she noticed that the boys' uniform is slightly similar to theirs, except their shorts aren't so short and are looser (imagine it boys wearing tight shorts…) The majority of the boys were playing basketball or are just sitting on their numbers.

The brunette somewhat hid herself from Luke's direction and walked towards the side of Kristy. She was incredibly embarrassed because she is very self-conscious of showing off skin. Once they got over to Miss Cantabile's lot, Melissa bid them farewell and walked over to Mr. Largo's lot.

"Bye bye Meli!"

"Bye…"

"See you at lunch!" Melissa chimed as she waved and then jogged over to her spot. Miss Cantabile was not out just yet and that gave the students liberty to just roam and 'chill'. Tear and Kristy sat on the bleachers, like many of their classmates.

"Where's Luke?" Kristy mumbled as her golden eyes searched around the gym, "He's still playing basketball? Geez…"

Tear preferred Luke over there so he won't have to look at her. Either way, it was inevitable… She had a feeling that he might make fun of her.

A loud whistle was blown and the boys in Tear's class were forced to cease their game. They glumly walked over to the bleachers and among them were Luke. She tensed and drew in a sharp breath. The redhead took a quick glance at her and then looked away. She exhaled, relieved.

"Heeya, looks like everyone is nice and dressed up." Miss Cantabile grinned as she played around with her deep violet hair. "Okay it looks like time for numbers and role call. Oh hey, Reddie! Did you apologize to Grants yet?"

Tear assumed 'Reddie' is a nickname for Luke and Grants is no one else but her. Great…

"Uhhh…"

She moved her head to see Luke at the top bleacher, slouching back with his hair spread everywhere. "Yeah sure."

The woman nodded as she stared at her clipboard, "Okay, I'll call your names and assign you to a number, alright? According to your last name and no, sorry you can't file a complaint if you don't like the ones you're next to." One by one, kids were called up and assigned to a number.

Then she realized that her last name is 'G' and his last name is 'F'.

'_A b c d e f __**g**__…. Oh God.'_

Luke was called, his last name starting with an 'F' and then actually listened and sat down. "Gosh we only have one last name with an 'F'? Gee wee…" Miss Cantabile read her clipboard and then smiled. That smile had a devious spark on it. "Tear…?"

The brunette paled. Kristy beamed at her and then muttered, "Star-crossed _lovers_!" Her phrase definitely did not help her.

"Y-Yes?"

Her teacher paused. "Oh, yeah can you go and get the rest of my role sheet? This one ends at L. It's in my office on the table." The violet-haired woman then threw the keys at the nervous girl. The brunette caught it out of shock.

Tear's shoulders stiffened and then she nodded slowly. Her teacher's smirk didn't make her feel any better. Since when did teachers appear so… cruel and act so sneaky? Without further ado, she walked away in silence. She felt eyes on her back and it burned through to create a sensation. Back in the locker room, she turned to the left and trotted straight down to what she thought was the office.

Jabbed the key in, turned it, and it clicked. The door opened and the role sheet was lying right there, lonely and forgotten by the spontaneous and bubbly Miss Cantabile. Her eyes wondered and examined the pictures on the wall; one was of Miss Cantabile and her dog and the other one was her and… Ms. Legretta? How… curious. Quickly, her eyes then lay on the sheet, full of inked names. Carefully, she picked it up and then scanned its contents with a bit of guilt in her throat. She then raised a brow and then smiled brightly to herself. Someone else would have to sit next to Luke, not her!

Tear found herself in a happy dose of relief as she grinned like an idiot. When she stepped out of the office and then closed the door, she felt a little weird. She turned the key slowly as she mused. Why was she spazzing?

Luke is an OK person… After really talking to him for the first time yesterday, he wasn't so bad. Sure, he has a lot of issues and his long hair annoys the crap out of her, but he didn't seem that… bad. Tear bit her lip and then eyed around to see if anyone was nearby. It would be embarrassing if someone were to catch her standing and staring off to space.

'_Shouldn't keep them waiting.'_ The girl thought, her expression quickly morphed into a placid one. When she went back out, her class stared at her. Everyone was still in their spot. It was as if time froze or something… That sent the chills up her spine.

"Why thank you darling!" The older woman snatched it away from Tear in a rather joking way. "Okay… moving on…"

Tear paced back over and sat next to Kristy as Miss Cantabile called out another person. She exchanged glances with the Junior. The blond gave her somewhat of a pout.

"Darn it… I really thought you were going to sit next to him."

She merely gave her classmate somewhat of a small yet exasperated grin. There were too many trivial feelings going on inside her. It made her a little uneasy. Once she heard her name, she stood up and sat on that assigned number. Luke was the first of the row, and she was second to last. At least he won't have an eyeful of her skin now that he is quite a distance away.

Damn, she was really being petty on this. She wanted to avoid him, but common sense pointed out that it will be inevitable in the end. _'Inevitable…. Huh?'_

The spunky coach, Miss Cantabile, clapped her hands together and then grinned from ear to ear once the number assigning wrapped up. "Well now, let's actually do something, okay? How about a lap around the gym, and make it snappy guys! I'm timing!"

Physical education was easy, thankfully. To describe it that period in a few words, it was: mediocre. Nothing special, really. She can run a mile or two without breaking too much of a sweat, but that really depends whether it is indoors or outdoors. Being a little sensitive to the sun, she would break down easier outside.

Also, Tear recalled Kristy using the phrase 'bounce' a lot. For example, the blond said as her eyes sparkled with mischief, "SEE HOW THEY _BOUNCE_?"

At that time, the brunette thought that her friend was talking about basketballs…

…

Tear slapped her locker upright so it could lock properly. She hastily flipped her hair back so the air can get to her neck. Long hair_ is _really a pain sometimes; despite how pretty it looks on other people. The reason why she let it down so long was so it can add a touch of grace----that and… she was too lazy to get it cut. She wasn't put down for being lazy yet, so she supposed that it didn't look too bad.

Kristy and Melissa were waiting in the gym, so she quickly hurried out to catch up with them. It isn't normal for her to be the slow one, but she was held back when the bell rung…

"_Tear?"__Luke asked with a slightly odd tone. He looked serious but then kind of… flustered at the same time. _

"_Huh?"_

"_Lunch."_

And before she knew it, he walked off. It made her cogitate up until she reached Melissa and Kristy. What did the phrase 'lunch' symbolize? What the hell did Luke mean when he said that? It was so irritating.

They gave her a suspicious glance---well, no it was only Melissa. Only she is the perceptive one while Kristy is the---erm…

"We have some time until lunch right?" Tear spoke, breaking through the short silence.

"If you're hungry we better get there or else the line builds up." said Kristy as she curled a strand of golden hair with her finger. "Though, if you're in ASB---"

"---then that is something entirely different." The older girl finished with a soft chuckle. "Why don't we stop by Mr. Curtiss's room, or our fifth period class? We usually hang around there."

"Well Luke likes to play basketball or practice kendo at this time, but hey if we're lucky, we'll catch him!" The glimmer in Kristy's eyes never ceases to appear. Tear suddenly had a clue of what Luke meant. To that, she nodded,

"Okay. Let's go?"

Walking down the halls is an adventure of its own. Even if it was about three minutes before all the other classes are dispatched, her classmates roam to enliven up the previous emptiness. The two girls beside Tear seemed to be very popular, for they brought smiles almost everywhere they went. She, on the other hand, didn't receive any---either that or she unconsciously ignored them all.

Hmph, she didn't want to be part of the publicity. It would be nice if there were people who liked her for _who_ she is, not because she has status and money. It still sickened her when she thought of comparing this school with her previous school.

No one talked to her in her old school. Everyone ignored her because she was the 'simple girl', the 'perfectionist', the 'anal girl'. She was fine with all of the names except for the last one. It put her off, but she kept quiet. That really irked her sanity, but that was all she could do.

Well… at least Melissa, Kristy, and Anise are nice to her. Though, she was a little hesitant about joining the Student Council. That would make her _involved_ with this school, and she frankly didn't want that. She hated lies, and if she makes herself 'popular', that is all she will be seeing.

Maybe it was her fault to be like this. Analyzing people is something that she simply does, and sometimes she overdoes it. Due to all of the thinking, she mentally shrugged and then gazed to the side. Tear just had bad times with lies.

Thankfully, Kristy and Melissa didn't make a reaction, so they probably didn't notice. The blond went ahead and opened the door to reveal a classroom. Jade was on his desk, reading something.

"Jade are you actually _working_?" Kristy gaped, as if it was a surprise to her.

"Well it's my job. I guess I have to be working." Jade shrugged skeptically as he turned the page.

With a suspicious glint, the blond walked over to Jade's area and then stared at the words on the page. "What the---? This is Ancient Ispanian! How can you read this?"

"I'm magical." was his only reply.

Melissa quickly interrupted Kristy and then went on, "We're going up, okay?"

"Some of them are there already."

"Alright. Thanks Jade."

Tear raised a brow. Kristy and Melissa called the teacher by his first name? That's strange…

She then stared at the stairs in the room. It was so hard to miss. She saw Kristy retreat from Mr. Curtiss's area and dart up the stairs first. Melissa came after, but in a quieter manner, and then gestured the brunette to follow. The first thing she did was look at Mr. Curtiss, who looked back at her.

He gave her a grin.

She smiled weakly and then turned away to follow Melissa. Aghh, what an intimidating teacher. She still needs to get used to it. _'I wonder how Melissa and Kristy did it...' _

Every step brought her closer to this little platform. Beyond it was a wide, yet slightly dark, hallway that probably led to that rendezvous point. Kristy already disappeared and Melissa was in front of her. Time slowed down as the Senior placed a gentle hand on the handle and then turned the doorknob. A pillar of light erupted and then slowly expanded.

It revealed a rather large and elegant room, full of nice furniture. The rug was crimson red, and on the white walls were pictures of many memories. There were expensive vases and expensive birch cabinets and… everything! It was also hard to miss the large oval oak meeting table in the center, accompanied with chairs on each side to appear symmetrical. There was a large window across from her, around 6 by 6 feet was her estimation. It was open and the white semi-transparent curtains fluttered to the afternoon breeze. Through the window, could one see the Central Plaza.

Tear moved to the side absently to look through the window at a different angle. There was a small balcony nearby. "Can we go on the balcony?" She asked aloud.

Kristy skipped over to a part of the room and then placed her hand on a door. "You go to the balcony here! Though we can only use it for events and such. It attracts too much attention to just eat there, you know?"

The brunette nodded slowly and then eyed the other wall. There was even a TV in here… and a pool table! It was too… extravagant for her… If she could replace this room for her bedroom back in the apartment, then she would be the happiest person ever.

A flush of water was heard and a door opened. Tear spun around to see Luke, who stared at the girls with a confused spark.

"Uhh Hi."

"I hope you didn't leave a stink in the bathroom!" Kristy teased as she scrunched her nose to emphasize her ruse.

"I didn't!" Luke replied snappishly as he flushed slightly. He then laid his eyes on Tear and then awkwardly said, "You're here now?"

"I'm not in the club yet." Tear replied as she almost hesitantly took a seat on the couch.

Melissa said out loud, "I'm going to the kitchen. Hopefully we have something…"

"Guy's in there." Luke replied swiftly before the girl opened a door and disappeared. He then stared at Tear and placed a hand on his waist, "You know you should right? I think you're going to _have_ to join later."

"_Why_?" Tear snapped, looking rather confused, yet annoyed. She didn't like it when she 'has' to do something when it should be optional. She has common sense; you can force a person to join a club. The brunette just wanted a reason.

Luke exhaled and then Kristy took over. She said, "Because you know, ASB is for students who like… you know… contribute to the school the most." She then took a seat to the couch across from Tear. "That's why everything looks so nice here. It's because we used our own money."

Luke then lazily stood behind the couch and then leaned on it. "This place is only rich 'cause of us. Master Van is rich too, but I guess it's thanks to us. You're his sister, so I guess it would be better if you hang around with us."

"Some people were sent here not because they were rich." Kristy continued, "Like Anise. She used to be really greedy, but now she's a lot better. That's why she's in the club. But there are a lot of other people that wants our money…"

"They'd do anything to try and be your friend and scam you." The red head scowled. "I'm not joking. That's what Master Van told me."

"So Tear, want to join?" Kristy clasped her hands together with very hopeful eyes. A sweet, angelic smile formed on her peerless lips. "It would be a lot better for you."

Tear was a little unsure. She trusted that she wouldn't be reckless enough to allow such a person to do that to her. Besides, it was not like she had total power over her family's money. It is all Van's. "…"

Still… she didn't want to be 'popular'. "Can I join and not… well… participate in any event?"

"What's the point of that?" Luke barked with a frown. "You have to do something!"

Tear was really getting annoyed with Luke's tone. "Excuse me, Luke. I have my reasons." Her tone was drop-dead serious. Her temper was something she couldn't control at times. Maybe it was Luke's red hair that would agitate her.

"Well…" Kristy glanced to the side nervously. "You can… maybe…? We need to ask President… Though who needs her---"

Luke retorted, "I'm the Vice! I can do anything too---!"

"_Ahh!_ Mieu! Guy catch him!"

"He's too fast!"

A loud ruckus was heard from the kitchen. The sound of pots and pans falling and colliding on the floor was heard. There was also a persistent chirp of 'Mieu'!

The two turned their heads to see what was up while Tear stared, with wide eyes, at the little blue ball with large floppy ears scuttle over.

Tear had a feeling that she should open her arms as the thing speedily jumped and then landed on her lap.

"Mieeeu!" it said affectionately.

Tear blushed as she met the large orbs of Mieu. Her face became as crimson as the carpet. _'So… cute… too… cute!!' _She wanted to squish the thing to death as it nuzzled her stomach. Alas, she wasn't fast enough because he was scooped away right in front of her. Luke held on to that little… ring around Mieu and held him in the most inappropriate and rude way ever!

The poor Mieu was squirming and wiggling. Luke then groaned, "Argh, you dumb Thing. Stop attacking people and get back to your cage!"

"H-How cruel!" Tear exclaimed, without thinking. Her brows furrowed as her lips curled into a frown.

"This thing is annoying… It always says the same thing. Stupid cat." Luke grumbled as he threw it off somewhere. Mieu plopped to the ground, but then he quickly recovered and then trotted over to the redhead's leg. The blue cat---wait, a cat?

"A… cat?" Tear blinked and then stared at Luke as if he was the largest dunce ever.

"Isn't it obvious?" Luke asked as he flamboyantly flicked his hair back. "Look at its ears and the way it 'mieu's. It's a cat! Duh?"

She twitched and then glanced at Kristy, who seemed to be quietly giggling to herself. The brunette shook her head quickly to try and regain herself. Mieu was just thrown off by Luke, and now he is hugging the abuser's leg? And it is most _definitely_ not a cat!

"It's not a---"

"Luke, admit it!" Guy's voice rang in the room as he walked out of the kitchen with a wrench. He had a black smudge on his cheek, and because of that, it only made his smile cuter.

"…" Tear shifted her eyes away.

"You love Mieu more than anything, am I right? It chose you as its master! Loyalty is what changes hearts." Guy continued in a rather chipper tone.

"S-Shut up!" Luke sounded either annoyed or embarrassed---or both! "This cat is stupid and won't stop following me!"

Guy cupped his chin as he thought, "Well… usually it is dogs that are loyal, but this is a special feline."

Tear wanted to scream, "WHAT?!" from the top of her lungs. Mieu is definitely NOT a cat. How could someone as intelligent-looking as Guy say that Mieu is a cat? MIEU IS NOT A CAT. NO.

If Mieu is a cat, then she can go ahead and say that her breasts are fake (which, they are not, by the way)! She exhaled slowly. This is madness.

Melissa happily came out from the kitchen with a basket of store-bought cookies. "Cookies, anyone? The oven is broken so we only have this. I think Cemore or Natalia will drive out and buy us food."

"I'm workin' on the oven. Hold up!" Guy was about to walk back into the kitchen until the auburn haired girl held up a cookie in front of his face.

"Want a cookie before you go?"

"My hands are dirty!"

Melissa then hastily opened the back and then held the cookie in front of Guy's mouth. Almost reluctantly, he bit it and took it with him in his mouth as he walked back into the kitchen.

Kristy gave a joking sneer at Melissa. "Ehehehe…"

Melissa beamed at her friend back, "Everyone has to eat some! I don't want anyone going hungry now!"

Luke also seemed stunned with the situation, but then he quickly shook his head. "Okay… uhm… what were we doing again?"

"Persuading Tear to join us?" Kristy replied in whiny voice. It really sounded like this girl was out of ideas.

Tear sighed and only kept her eyes on the little cheagle---that is not a cat---who was hugging Luke's leg affectionately. It pissed her off that Luke acted as if Mieu was only trash.

Melissa set the basket on the coffee table that is in the middle of the two couches. "Well Tear? Does Mieu interest you?"

Tear gave Melissa a raise of a brow. "Interest…?"

"Who would be interested in a stupid thing like this?" Luke muttered as he folded his arms.

Melissa took a seat next a Kristy. Tear gave her a look that was desperate for an answer or a light to all of this confusion. Yesterday, the Seniors, Guy and Melissa, were frantically searching for Mieu yesterday for Luke. She had the impression that Luke really cared for the cheagle. Why was he acting like this? What's with the irony…? The sound of the bell broke the silence.

"How about taking care of Mieu? All he does is sit here all day and he probably gets lonely." Melissa, who was sitting on the side of the couch, stretched her arm downward to lure the cheagle away from Luke. Mieu approached her hand and then rubbed its cheek against it lovingly. "He runs around a lot because he has nothing to do. Can you take care of him?"

Tear's face burned as she stared at the little cheagle. O, would she _love_ a cheagle nuzzle her hand like that! She wanted to say 'yes' right away, but…

"Are you sure?" Luke clearly didn't look persuaded, even if he was the one who asked her to join. "Tear doesn't look like she's too good with animals…"

"Pff!" Kristy then clicked her tongue, "She's probably better than you Luke. You kick Mieu around too much. It's time for a more feminine touch!"

"Mieu's tough. I think." Luke replied, rather lamely. He frowned and then stared off. "Whatever…"

"It'll work! That way you don't have to really be involved in events!" Kristy chirped as she clapped her hands together. "You can join and take care of Mieu! It's perfect!"

"The school mascot's caretaker..." Melissa placed a finger on her chin and she had a smile that would dazzle anyone. "It sounds like an important job, no?"

Tear couldn't hold it any longer. She wanted to happily exclaim 'OK' but instead, she meekly said, "Oh… alright." in almost a mumble.

Kristy stood up and then cheered, "YAY!"

And then another voice rose, it was a girlish voice, "YAY what?"

"ANISE!!"

"KRISTYY!"

The spunky Sophomore skipped over and then grinned. "Hey hey! I see you in here! Are you in yet? Are ya, are ya?"

Tear nodded once, but that wasn't good enough for the hyper younger girl. So, Melissa had to speak instead, "Yes she is, as Mieu's caretaker."

"Oooh!" Anise opened her mouth and then nodded, "Does Natalia know?"

"Not yet." Luke replied, "But she can't say no because I said 'whatever'. So yeah, whatever works, so she's in."

Anise rolled her eyes in a second and then ran over to hug the redhead. "Oh Luke, you're so cool!"

"H-Hey! Get off me!"

Tear shuddered. She didn't want to be mean but… that was… rather strange. Does Anise have a split personality or something? It really shows sometimes…

The main door that was previously closed quietly opened. The boy that came out shouted, "Boow your heads! The Princess is _heree_!" He exclaimed in a frivolous manner.

"Stop calling me that, _Cemore_!" A rather annoyed, yet a mature voice of a girl said. In an instant, Cemore was shoved off from the entrance of the door. He staggered to not fall, and once he recovered, he sneered. Natalia strut in and then raised a brow.

"_Behold_, the beautiful President and all of her glory!" Luke hollered, continuing after Cemore. The two boys started snickering as they placed a hand on each other's shoulder.

Natalia shot a death glare at the two boys, and then they stopped in an instant. The strawberry blond girl with porcelain pale skin stared at Tear with her burning emerald eyes. Her high nose and pursed lips really made her look like a mannequin posing for the theme of 'fierce'.

"Hello there."

Tear lowered her eyes, sheepishly at first. Then after seeing how competitive Natalia's stare was, she returned just as much energy. The brunette was receiving a really negative vibe, and she's not the kind of person that likes to be pushed over. "Hi."

Natalia quickly glanced at Luke, "Why is she here?" she asked, or rather, demanded.

Luke replied, with absolutely no fear, "Van's sister, remember? She has to be here."

The short haired blond dropped her fierce positioned and then let out a short sigh. "Oh right. Well then, seeing that all of you are here, was her position decided?"

"Mieu's caretaker." Kristy replied bluntly. All of her energy seemed to be lost as well… The force around Natalia was really strong.

Natalia took another look at Tear and then laughed a bit, "Really? I would have never guessed… I thought she should be the maid." No one said anything as she paced around in the room. She stared down at the cheagle, and in an instant, Mieu scurried over and then hid behind Tear's leg. "Well he seemed to be okay with it. Well, why not? It doesn't sound like a bad idea…"

"Well yeah. So she's in right?" Luke turned around and then leaned against the back of the couch.

Natalia didn't say anything for a moment and then replied, "Well, I guess so. But really, just taking care of Mieu? She should do much more than that."

Anise sat on the armchair and then pouted, "Well it's kind of hard…"

"She should clean too. I mean it's a mess and the janitor takes too long." Natalia pressed on, "So how about it?"

The room when quiet for a bit.

"Well if Tear wants to." Melissa stared at Tear, suddenly looking concerned.

Tear felt as if the status was reduced to a slave after hearing Natalia's tone of being a 'maid'. Surely, it was a challenge. She shot a glare at the older blond girl.

Well if it was what she wants…

"Fine." She answered bluntly, yet coldly.

Natalia raised a brow as an amused smile enhanced her beautiful face. "Oh? Well, _good_!" The quick response was almost awkward. It sounded as if she had nothing else to say. She then hastily added, "W-Well then, as a maid, you must also do the tasks. Why not get us food now?"

Tear stood up, her eyes were intensifying. The little cheagle let out a small "Mieu…"

"Okay." She replied. The brunette was fuming! She didn't have the chance to examine everyone's faces and then left the room. What arrogance! It was just as bad as Luke's!

Tear huffed as she walked down the stairs. She hated being humiliated. She hated it so much.

**Luke:** … Tear's .

**CCP:** Yeah…

**Luke:** She's really scary…

**CCP:** No doubt.

**Luke:** Natalia is scary too…

**CCP:** Tear VS. Natalia. Who would win?

**Luke:** Hmm… *thinks thinks* ehehe…

**CCP:** *slaps Luke a paper fan* BAD.

**Luke:** OW---! What?! Arghh…

**CCP:** You job…? Say it!

**Luke:** *sighs* okay. Thanks for reading guys. Reviews would make me happy. \o/

**CCP:** THANK YOU! And to those Natalia fans, don't worry! ~  It will get better!


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